Education
Education Commissioner Henry Mack opened Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting in Stuart by praising Walton and Okaloosa county schools for getting back to normal after Hurricane Isaias.
- Walton welcomed back all students, faculty and staff Wednesday. Okaloosa returns to full operations Thursday. Mack called that “quite remarkable, given again the impact of the hurricane,” according to the News Service of Florida.
“If I have to order FHP break down your doors, that’s what I will do.”
That is what Mack told Santa Rosa Superintendent Karen Barber on a conference call, according to a source who sat in on the call. Santa Rosa and Escambia schools won’t reopen with normal operations until Monday.
What my source says happened
- Mack accused Barber and her team of being “too tired” to open schools, my source said, and of denying parents the choice to send their children to class
- He refused to use her title and called her by her first name
- Barber was led to believe Mack would cut her funding and attack the district and her personally, according to the source
The outcome. The Santa Rosa County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday morning to keep schools closed through Friday, Oct. 16. That reversed the earlier decision to reopen Wednesday after teachers publicly objected to opening campuses while recovery work was still underway.
Where things stand.
- Walton County: open to all students and staff Wednesday
- Okaloosa County: full operations Thursday
- Escambia and Santa Rosa counties: normal operations Monday
- University of West Florida: closed through Thursday, with crews still clearing debris from roads, lots and walkways
- Pensacola State College: classes resume Monday after “extensive damage” at all locations, which have also served as staging areas for relief agencies and utilities
The scorecard problem. Praising the districts that reopened first sets up Escambia and Santa Rosa as the laggards. A faster reopening is not automatically a better decision.
Some Panhandle Schools to Reopen After Isaias
By The News Service of Florida
Some Panhandle schools in the path of Hurricane Isaias are starting to reopen, Education Commissioner Henry Mack said Wednesday, while others will wait until next week.
“As of today, Walton County is welcoming back all students, faculty, and staff, returning to normal operations,” Mack said at the opening of the Board of Education meeting in Stuart. “Okaloosa announced that they will return to normal full operations tomorrow. Quite remarkable, given again the impact of the hurricane.”
But schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties aren’t scheduled to reopen with normal operations until Monday.
Schools closed before Isaias swept through the region last Friday as a Category 2 storm and have been scrambling to make needed repairs to facilities while awaiting power restoration.
The University of West Florida posted it will remain closed through Thursday.
“Power has been restored to most of campus, and buildings and residence halls have been cleared of structural damage,” the Pensacola-based university stated on its website Tuesday night. “While significant progress has been made, crews continue to remove storm debris and clear campus roads, parking lots and pedestrian walkways to ensure they are safe for use.”
Classes will resume Monday at Pensacola State College. The school noted on its website there has been “extensive damage” at all locations, which have also been used as staging areas for relief agencies and utilities.