PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Students in Pinellas County are set to return to school for the first time since Hurricane Milton made landfall.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick confirmed district staff are back to work Tuesday morning, while students will come back to class Wednesday.
"Our number one goal was to make sure students can return, give a sense of normalcy to our community, allow parents to return to work, and we're excited to do that tomorrow," he said.
The district has been working diligently to assess damage at school buildings and make repairs. Hendrick said several schools had roof damage, with Pinellas Park High School sustaining the greatest damages.
As of Tuesday morning, power has been restored to all schools. Now, Hendrick is looking forward to welcoming students back to class.
"It's critical to be back in school," he said. "It is the normalcy for our community. Everything is not gonna be the same until we get back to some sense of routine."
It still remains to be seen how Pinellas County schools will make up off days. Hendrick estimated students have missed approximately 10 days of school as a result of Hurricane Helene and Milton.
District leaders will share a proposal with the school board next week outlining a plan to account for those lost days. Hendrick believes the district will likely have school on days that were initially scheduled as off days. In addition, the district will add minutes to every day to meet state requirements.
As parents prepare to send their kids back to school, Hendrick urged them to exercise caution on the roads and to ensure their kids have a safe route to school.
"Safe is better than on time tomorrow," he said.
