Public schools in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia and Lake counties have canceled classes on Wednesday in anticipation of Hurricane Idalia, which is expected to pass west of the Orlando area but still bring strong winds and rain to Central Florida.
A press release from Orange County Public Schools announcing the campus closures cited expected winds exceeding 35 miles per hour on the west side of the county.
“We are strongly encouraging families and employees to continue to prepare for possible impacts from the storm,” the district’s press release said.
Orange and Volusia plan to end all afterschool activities by 8 p.m. today, while Lake and Osceola have canceled them. Orange, Osceola and Volusia said they plan to resume classes on Thursday. The other districts did not indicate when they plan to reopen.
The Osceola County school district initially said it planned to hold classes on Wednesday, but changed course this afternoon and said it too had decided to cancel them.
