Hillsborough County announced the closure of all public schools and after-school activities from Monday, Sept. 26 through Thursday, Sept. 29. This closure is a result of Hurricane Ian which is heading up the coast of Florida, expected to cause some flooding in the area.

“County emergency officials have made the decision to activate many of our schools, starting Monday, as storm shelters to house many members of our community who will be required to evacuate their homes starting tomorrow,” Hillsborough County said in a voicemail sent out to HCPS parents and guardians.

In another message, following the Countywide voice mail, Robinson Principal David Brown provided additional information regarding school closures.

“Schools will be closed through at least Thursday, I’m not saying that they will reopen on Friday, but on Thursday it will give time to reevaluate and see if our schools are able to reopen,” Brown said. “We are not sure if these days need to be made up in the future, that decision will be made after the storm is done. Discussions will need to be held with the Florida Department of Education to determine if and when these dates need to be made up.”

Students, confronted with the prospect of multiple days away from school are noticeably excited but still aware of the potential consequences that could be reflected in their workload.

“The cancellation of school will, at first, help slow the amount of work we have to complete this week but will eventually put us in a crunch for our IB and AP classes for the upcoming month. [However,] I certainly will appreciate the little break for a few days…” Sara Lebron (’24) said.

Currently, there is no virtual requirement for these days off, which means that teachers will have to plan lessons around these off days.

“My lessons will be pushed back a little but the safety of our students and community is more important…[I] will ensure that I get my students caught up when we return,” IB Math Teacher Judi Charley-Sale said.

With the storm rapidly increasing in intensity, Hillsborough County has ordered mandatory evacuations for Zone A and a recommended voluntary evacuation for Zone B. The MacDill Air Force Base has put in place an installation-wide mandatory evacuation for all non-essential personnel to be completed by Tuesday at noon.

Click on the link to find which evacuation zone your location is designated as.