Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education have directed the Escambia and Santa Rosa School Districts to open on Wednesday, Oct. 14, regardless of the condition of their schools.
As of Sunday afternoon, Escambia County school officials were still assessing the damage to their schools. The school district officials didn’t appear at the Saturday or Sunday press conference.
I asked Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore, “Do we know kind of what their timetable is on opening up the schools again?”
- “Excellent question. No, not right now,” he replied. “They’re still doing assessments right now. I know several schools did take a pretty good hit … Of course, they’ve got down trees as well. They want to clean up as much as they can for the kids to get back and make sure there’s no overhanging dangers.”
In Santa Rosa County, sources said 16 of the 37 public schools still don’t have power. The administrative offices are running on a generator.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education can order the doors open on Wednesday, but they won’t be the ones standing in a classroom with downed trees outside and no power overhead. Escambia officials are still assessing damage. I
- Parents deserve more than a deadline. They deserve a straight answer from their school districts before they put their kids on a bus.