DeKalb County Schools announces fourth day of school closures, Decatur may follow
Photo obtained via the DeKalb County Schools Facebook page
This story has been updated.
DeKalb County Schools has announced it is closing for a fourth day on Thursday, Sept. 14, due to power outages caused by Hurricane Irma.
With other school systems in the county experiencing similar outages, there could be additional school closures announced today. City Schools of Decatur Superintendent David Dude said parents should prepare for the possibility off school being cancelled tomorrow, saying a formal announcement will come this evening.
“We very much want to hold school Thursday, so we will not be making a decision on the day until later this evening,” Dude said via Facebook. “Prepare for the possibility of school being cancelled again, knowing we are doing all we can to get kids back in school. We are working on contingency plans to still hold school if we are able to get down to one or two small elementary schools without power. Check back in a couple hours for our next update.”
Later Wednesday afternoon, Dude sounded cautiously optimistic that schools could open on Friday.
“We still have four schools with no power, but we finally have a Georgia Power crew assigned to three of those four schools, and they are assessing the fourth,” Dude said. “Numerous roads are still blocked throughout Decatur. I am still cautiously optimistic that we will be able to have school tomorrow. We are working on contingency plans for a situation where two schools still don’t have power. A decision will be made no later than 8 p.m. tonight.”
The county school system says there are still several schools without power.
According to DeKalb County Schools, “Progress is being made in preparing to reopen schools. Approximately 32 DCSD campuses remain without power as of noon today. By comparison, 62 campuses were without power at a similar time Tuesday. Also, significant issues such as fallen trees on school roofs and fallen trees persist.”
Schools have been closed since Monday. If any other school systems announce closures, this post will be updated. Here’s the full announcement from DeKalb County Schools:
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All DeKalb County School District schools and offices to remain closed on Thursday, Sept. 14
STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. – All schools and offices in the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will remain closed on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. Employees are not to report to work.
“Safety is key. Right now, there are several challenges that present a potential threat to our students such as buildings and homes without power, and fallen power lines and trees. We remain hopeful to reopen our schools and offices soon, but not at the expense of our students and staff,” said R. Stephen Green, DCSD superintendent/CEO. “We are thankful to the numerous DCSD staff members that have worked tirelessly to remove debris, secure our campuses and restore our capacity.”
Progress is being made in preparing to reopen schools. Approximately 32 DCSD campuses remain without power as of noon today. By comparison, 62 campuses were without power at a similar time Tuesday. Also, significant issues such as fallen trees on school roofs and fallen trees persist.
In the meantime, a state of emergency has been declared across DeKalb County. Teams of DCSD employees have been assessing the status of schools and working with appropriate organizations to reopen schools as quickly and safely as possible.
DCSD will continue to announce updates via its website at www.dekalbschoolsga.organd through its mobile app and accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
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