Tens of thousands of Tampa Bay area students will stay at home today even though no evacuations have been ordered and Hurricane Ivan is two days from possibly affecting the region.
School administrators throughout the area will go through familiar calculations today about whether to open or close Tuesday, depending on the hurricane's projected path.
Schools in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando and Citrus are closed today. Pasco County schools are open, but Pasco superintendent John Long is concerned some parents might be confused since other area districts are closed.
"We can sure use another day of school," he said. "That's one less day we need to make up. I'm hoping we have a good turnout."
Pasco has lost three days to hurricanes this year. Today will be the fourth lost day for students in Pinellas and Hillsborough. Hernando will lose its third day. Citrus, where schools were closed all last week, will lose its sixth day.
School officials said Sunday they made the decision to close based on discussions Friday or Saturday with county emergency officials and Ivan's track at the time, which was closer to the Tampa Bay area. Ivan's projected path has since moved to the west.
In Pinellas, school district spokesman Ron Stone said it wasn't possible to change direction and open schools today after announcing Saturday they would close.
"A lot of folks have packed and have left this area," he said.
He said Pinellas intends to reopen schools Tuesday unless the path of the hurricane shifts again and schools are needed for shelters.
In Hillsborough County, school district spokesman Mark Hart said Sunday that county emergency management officials had expected to open as many as 39 shelters when the decision was made Friday to close today.
"That's a large undertaking, not just something you can throw together easily," he said.
Hart said administrators also realized late last week that Ivan's approach was taking an emotional toll on parents.
"We normally try to wait as long as we can before closing schools, because the tracks are so unpredictable," Hart said. "But we've already had two storms, and we had calls suggesting people are inordinately anxious about this one."
Hart said his office got calls as early as Thursday from parents and others asking whether schools would close today and whether the shelter nearest them could handle a Category 4 or 5 storm like Ivan.
Students in 15 Hillsborough schools missed a fifth day last week after Frances, because their schools still didn't have power by the time district officials resumed classes Wednesday. The state requires students to attend school at least 180 days a year, but how and when hurricane days would be made up is uncertain. Gov. Jeb Bush waived the requirement to exclude days lost due to Frances.
In Hillsborough, Hart said 184 days were scheduled for this year. So even with the hurricane-related closings, only the students in 15 schools that didn't have power and were closed when others were open would have to make up a day.
In Pinellas, Stone said students and teachers will likely have to make up all of the missed days. He said the district could use professional development days or holiday vacation days.
