(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Most schools operational post-Ian but thousands of FL students still can’t go to class [1] ['Danielle J. Brown', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2022-10-11 Some students are entering their second week since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida with their school closed. And while local education leaders form plans to move everyone back into the classroom, some kids may have to wait longer than others, putting their educations on hold. In some counties, the damage is so great that buildings might not be restored to working condition for weeks. On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted the situation while rehashing old COVID-era talking points. “It’s obviously really important for the academic progression. We saw that during COVID, when they were locking kids out of schools in other parts of the country,” he said during a news conference in Charlotte County. But thousands of public school children are still not in school today and may not return until middle-to-late-October, or even later. Most school districts elected to close for a portion of the last week of September, as Ian approached, and reopened shortly thereafter. But last week, the Florida Department of Education reported that five school districts were still closed “until further notice” — Charlotte, Lee, Sarasota, Hardee, and DeSoto — due to damage left by the Category 4 hurricane. Here’s where five school districts stand a week later: Lee County schools (97,264 students) Lee County was directly in the path of the storm, with a death toll and elongated recovery process to show for it. Out of 102 deaths tied to Hurricane Ian, 52 were in Lee County alone. For comparison, the counties with the next next highest death tolls are Sarasota and Monroe, each with seven deaths. The Lee County school district is the largest struggling to reopen right now. “Unfortunately, I have to report that schools will remain closed,” Lee Superintendent Christopher Bernier reported in a press conference Friday. Bernier described some of the difficulties the district has been working through, such as restoring power and water. Of the schools that have water, some remain under a boil-water notice. Other schools still have debris on site. “We do have schools that remain in the high-needs category, suffering significant damage. Some of them will take time to repair and some will need even longer because they will need to be rebuilt,” Bernier said. Those factors, as well as the difficult times that families, teachers, and staff face because of damage to their homes, leave the district “just not ready” to open this week, according to Bernier. “Our goal is to return, and I say this again — our goal is to return to an educational environment for our students and teachers on Monday, Oct. 17,” Bernier said. “That is our goal.” During a press conference Friday morning, DeSantis announced that four Lee county schools were “total losses.” But that same day, Bernier did not confirm nor dispute DeSantis’ claims: “The governor made an announcement that four schools will not reopen, that they’re physically damaged to the point that they will not be able to reopen,” Bernier said. “I’m not sure which four schools the governor is speaking about, but I will tell you that we have plans in place for those schools that we know will not be ready on Oct. 17, to ensure that we will have educational environments for those children, and we will do our very best … to keep those communities of learners — those students and those teachers and those principals — together in this process.” The Phoenix has reached out to the school district for clarity on the status of these schools and is awaiting a response. Charlotte County schools (16,400 students) A notice on the Charlotte County school district website tells parents that 19 out of 21 schools will be open by next Tuesday but that the opening of two middle schools will be delayed. One of those schools, L.A. Ainger Middle School, will reopen on Oct. 24 but Port Charlotte Middle School does not yet have a reopen date. The website reports that all schools now have power and are sealed so that “no further water intrusion can occur (first rain will confirm).” The district notes that buildings are still being dried out and dehumidified from rain and flooding and that debris is still being removed from certain rooms and on campuses. Athletic programs can continue as of Tuesday, according to the district. All playing fields have been “dragged with a magnetized machine to ensure no small metal debris” remains. In his Monday press conference, DeSantis noted that Charlotte County school officials “submitted five requests to us for assistance, including chillers to provide air conditioning at one of the middle schools, prioritizing power restoration at one of the elementary schools.” “Removing trees and debris from several schools. Removing debris from bus stops, and new ceiling tiles to be replaced if some were damaged,” DeSantis added. He called Charlotte County schools’ recovery timeline, which includes two schools that will not be able to reopen until after next Monday, a “great bounce back.” Sarasota County schools (43,896 students) According to a Monday update, the Sarasota County school district plans to reopen in phases. “Today’s a good day, a really good day, because we open 35 schools today,” Superintendent Brennan Asplen said. For the schools that reopened on Monday, student attendance was “very close to normal” and there was “minimal disruption” in transportation, he said. Asplen reported that 14 schools were used as shelters during and after the storm but that now all of those shelters are closed, meaning the space can get back to functioning as educational facilities. That said, 12 Sarasota schools will remain closed until next Monday. Asplen said that high school athletic teams were able to resume practice continued last Friday, Oct. 7, but that damage to bleachers need to be repaired, potentially affecting home games. DeSoto County schools (4,568 students) The DeSoto County school district will also reopen in phases but at an even even slower pace than in Sarasota County, according to an update on the district’s website Six schools will reopen to students by next Monday but DeSoto County High School and Nocatee Elementary Schools suffered significant damage that “will require more time to restore.” The district projects those buildings will reopen between Oct. 24 and as late as Nov. 7. “Next week, we will have a better idea if the reopening date is closer to Monday, Oct. 24, or if it is later.” The Phoenix reached out to the district for more details on the timeline and is awaiting a response. Hardee County schools (4,941 students) The Hardee County school district welcomed their students back on Monday, according to their district website. Phoenix reporter Issac Morgan contributed to this report. 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