Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Hurricane Ivan veered away from southwest Florida, and school students around the Tampa Bay area are back in their classrooms. Though some of those children missed a day on which the sun shined, parents who may have missed their own work as a result shouldn't be too quick to question. Those who prepare the public for disaster deserve the leeway of erring on the side of caution.
As emergency operations and school officials around the state evaluate their performance during all three hurricanes this season, though, they are bound to ask similar questions of themselves. Is there a way, given the unpredictability of hurricanes and the necessary lead time for evacuation, to bring more precision to the decision to close public schools? Is there a way, particularly in the urban counties, to provide sufficient notice to parents and teachers and still wait for the latest forecast information?
The circumstances surrounding Ivan were certainly peculiar. It was the third storm in a month to threaten the region, and parents were anxious. Many of them were calling school officials as early as Thursday, demanding answers, wanting to know if the schools would be closing on Monday. Some even said they wanted to evacuate their families as early as Friday, though no mandatory evacuation had been ordered.
Given such a climate, it is easy to see how school officials in Hillsborough and Pinellas chose to announce their decisions early. Hillsborough decided on Friday, and Pinellas on Saturday, to close schools on Monday. On the other hand, Pasco to the north and Manatee to the south waited longer and were able to benefit from more updated forecasts as a result. The key may be in the necessary preparation time.
If school districts can devise a plan that consistently allows them to close schools and convert them to shelters within a 24-hour cycle, then they can typically wait until the emergency operations briefing one day to make decisions about the following day. That's the practice Pasco and Manatee followed with Ivan, and the practice many districts follow when storms are developing during the school week.
These are tough calls made under trying circumstances, and experience may be the only real teacher.