TAMPA - Parents cheered and children booed at the news.
With the threat of Hurricane Ivan moving farther away, Hillsborough County public schools will reopen today.
"Whoopee!" cheered Lynda DelMissier, parent of a Gorrie Elementary School first-grader and a preschooler. "We want them to open."
DelMissier and pal Lowelle Lomel spent part of Monday at Al Lopez Park, letting their five children blow off energy on the slides and swings.
Hillsborough schools were closed Monday, a decision made by educators last week in consultation with county emergency officials when the storm's path was veering closer to the Tampa Bay area.
It was the fourth hurricane day for most public school students in Hillsborough this year.
As the hurricane spun hundreds of miles from Tampa after wrecking parts of Grenada, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the partly sunny day was perfect for a local park visit.
Patrick Gelin Jr., 6, a Davis Elementary first-grader, ran through the jungle gym with schoolwork far from his mind.
"I don't like school," said Gelin, a cartoon addict.
But his father was more than ready for schools to reopen.
"I just like my children being in school," said Patrick Gelin, who works in risk management for J.P. Morgan. "I don't think they should have closed."
Though the missed day seemed ridiculous to many people Monday, administrators stood by their decision, said schools spokesman Mark Hart.
Officials had been told Friday that as many as 39 schools might be needed as Red Cross shelters, as Ivan's earlier path and Category 5 strength seemed to center on Tampa.
"It sounded like a very serious, serious situation," Hart said. "That storm looked very ominous on Friday."
Hart said worried parents started calling Thursday.
Many said they were leaving town with their children and would not be around to hear official school closing announcements.
Another factor in the decision, Hart said, was the difficulty in informing parents and employees over the weekend about school closings.
Letters were sent home with all 188,000 students Friday, an option that would not have been possible with a delayed decision to shut down.
"Trying to call people back on a Sunday is a pretty big undertaking," Hart said.
Hillsborough is the nation's 10th largest school district and the county's largest employer, with 32,000 workers.
"As big as we are, it's not just as easy as getting the word out to parents and getting the kids back in school," Hart said. "We have teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers.
"There was probably higher anxiety than usual about the approach of this storm, as dangerous as it appeared to be and as many problems as there were caused by Frances. It had people really thinking."
Most Hillsborough schoolchildren have missed four days for hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan.
Students at another 15 schools missed a fifth day last week after their campuses were closed because of power outages from Frances, which downed trees and caused flooding.
Because Hillsborough's school calendar has 184 days instead of 180, as the state mandates, makeup days may not be necessary for all but the 15 schools that missed an extra hurricane day, Hart said.
How Ivan might affect us