LoginHurricane Isaias Impacts School Bus Routes, School Openings
Several school districts were affected by Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall near Destin, Florida as a Category 2 hurricane. It ripped through the Florida Panhandle, creating destruction for homes, businesses and schools.
One of the most affected counties by the Oct. 9 Hurricane, Santa Rosa, experienced winds up to 116 mph. Santa Rosa County Public Schools spokeswoman Katelyn Kent told School Transportation News that Isaias impacted all 36 schools across the district to varying degrees.
On Oct. 11, Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference and stated, “We want to give people an opportunity to be in school as quickly as possible.”
With aspirations of returning to school Oct. 14, DeSantis noted that “state teams were helping to clear bus routes and assist school districts to get schools open.”
Meanwhile, Santa Rosa Superintendent Dr. Karen Barber noted in a conference that, “Transporting 16,000 students can be a difficult challenge, and buses won’t be able to get down every route,” Barber said. “We will have alternative routes.”
However, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, Santa Rosa County Schools held a school board meeting and unanimously voted to remain closed for the rest of the week, until Monday, Oct. 19.
Kent added that several campuses required repairs, including transportation routes, making an Oct. 14 return unreasonable.
Since then, DeSantis has submitted a request to President Donald Trump for approval for major federal disaster declaration. According to the Executive Office of the Governor, the request “seeks additional federal resources to support impacted communities across Northwest Florida, including public assistance for 15 counties and Individual Assistance for eligible residents in eight designated counties.”
As DeSantis is not fully counting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Santa Rosa County Schools are relying on their facilities, maintenance and transportation departments as well as state and local partners to prepare for the return of students and staff on Monday, Oct. 19.
As for how bus routes are operating on Monday, Kent said that they expect regular operations as students will be picked up and dropped off at their normal bus stops and scheduled times. This could not have been done without state and local agencies, along with county officials, as Kent said, they “worked hard to ensure routes are safe and accessible for school buses.”
Meanwhile, other districts shut down either in preparation for the storm, or following the storm’s aftermath. Escambia County Schools encompassing Pensacola closed for two days after the hurricane with limited access to power.
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At Walton County School District, spokesman Joshua Bledsoe said that Hurricane Isaias did not result in a need to alter school bus routes.
“Thankfully, due to the power restoration efforts, the roadways were cleared prior to our resuming classes [Oct.14],” he told STN, adding that school officials drove all routes to ensure they were traversable by bus.
Catherine Card, spokeswoman for Okaloosa County School District, said schools closed ahead of the storm to allow time to prepare. “We continued to adjust our reopening timeline based on facility assessments, storm impacts and the needs of our families and employees,” she said.
The district reopened Thursday, Oct. 15.
“From a transportation standpoint, the storm significantly impacted several bus routes in both the northern and southern parts of the county,” she added, noting that stop-arms on a few school buses were damaged. “After the storm, members of our transportation department drove routes to assess road conditions and determine whether buses could pass.”
She noted that when students and staff returned, the roads along the routes were accessible for transportation.
“In anticipation of potential route changes, we had a communication plan in place to notify families through our district communication platform if adjustments were necessary,” Card said. “This helped ensure families could receive timely information about any changes affecting their students’ transportation.
“Our transportation team played an important role in assessing conditions and preparing for a safe return to school. We appreciate their efforts, along with the many district employees who helped us resume operations after the storm.”
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