Monroe Supt: "We Will Have Students Back In School In Very Near Future"
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MONROE COUNTY (CBSMiami) – Hurricane Irma, the Atlantic's most powerful hurricane on record, left thousands of South Florida students stranded without school to attend due to massive power outages.
While students in Miami-Dade and Broward are set to resume classes on Monday, the same cannot be said for students in Monroe County where tens of thousands of residents remain evacuated.
Monroe County Schools Superintendent Mark Porter said Thursday he's committed to opening Keys Schools as soon as possible.
Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho extended an offer to Porter to continue the education of all Monroe County Public Schools students in Miami-Dade.
Porter said Thursday he spoke with Carvalho about his offer.
"I acknowledge and thank Superintendent Carvalho for his generous offer of accommodating our students, but at this time I am fully committed to reopening all of the Monroe County Schools as soon as possible. We will have our students back in school in the very near future."
Superintendent Porter added, "I want to personally express my appreciation to Superintendent Carvalho and his Miami-Dade Public Schools team for their generosity and support. They are providing resources that will be tremendously valuable in the recovery effort of the Monroe County Schools."
Porter has agreed to have his facilities, operations and planning team work out of Miami-Dade Public Schools offices which allows for their personal safety while staying close to the hurricane sites.
Monroe County Emergency Operations officials continue to work diligently to ensure basic resources like water, electricity, and access to food and fuel are readily available to Keys residents after Hurricane Irma.
School officials have initiated a first round inspection of Monroe County schools and their initial inspection has revealed only minor damage and minimal flooding, even at some of the hardest hit schools.
The Monroe County School District serves approximately 8,600 students throughout the upper, middle, lower keys, and Key West.