South Florida schools reopening after canceling classes, shutting down offices due to Hurricane Milton
MIAMI — South Florida schools will reopen on Friday after shutting down ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe County school districts began canceling classes and closing offices on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning as Milton rapidly intensified while it barreled toward the west coast of the state.
The storm made landfall as a Category 3 storm around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday near Siesta Key, just south of Tampa Bay.
All three regional school districts will resume normal operations on Friday, each district said on social media Thursday afternoon. Classes and other school-related activities, along with district offices, remained canceled and closed for Thursday.
The Archdiocese of Miami also said that all Catholic schools in South Florida will reopen on Friday as well. Other regional school districts, including Palm Beach County and Palmer Trinity, have not yet provided updates on reopening plans as of Thursday afternoon.
The University of Florida, Broward College, Miami-Dade College and Florida Atlantic University have said that they will also reopen Friday. Other institutions such as the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University and the University of South Florida have yet to announce reopening plans.
Broward County Public Schools is the sixth-largest school district in the United States and the second-largest school district in Florida, consisting of 332 schools and 256,037 students as of the 2023-2024 academic year.