Pasco County Schools remain open during mandatory hurricane evacuation

Beginning this morning, coastal areas of Pasco County were subject to a mandatory evacuation order, but students who live in those areas were still required to attend school.

Teachers in nearby Hillsborough and Pinellas counties had the day off to prepare for Hurricane Helene’s arrival, even though the risk of storm surge was predicted to be higher in Pasco County.

Pasco County Superintendent Dr. Kurt Browning is defending his decision to keep schools open for the full day, despite push back from officials and parents.

Brandee Brown lives just feet from a canal leading straight to the Gulf of Mexico in the Hudson community of western Pasco County.

She and her son Ethan spent Wednesday moving everything out of their yard and securing their boat.

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They live in Pasco County Evacuation Zone A, where a mandatory evacuation was ordered to take effect Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

Brown kept her nine-year-old son Ethan home from school.

Browning made the decision to keep schools open for a full day Wednesday during an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

“I saw no reason not to keep our schools open. Have another day of learning because those hours, those minutes that we have to make up,” Browning said.

Browning says good weather during the school day proved him right.

“With the weather that was predicted and it’s proven to be true I think it was the right decision to have our kids in school,” he said.

“We can make that school up. We have those days,” Brown said.

She says she believes keeping kids in schools sends a wrong message to families who were told to evacuate.

“It is irresponsible,” she said.

She worries people will wait too late to decide to leave and possibly put themselves in danger.

“The county issued a mandatory evacuation for 9 o’clock this morning. I don’t want to be snarky about it, but I guarantee you no one is moving out of their homes right now. Why would I when it’s not windy or rainy?” Browning said.

Pasco County’s emergency manager called out the school district for not opening its five shelters earlier.

“They are very adamant on continuing classes because of school hours. I tried for early dismissal today and they would not even budge at that,” said Emergency Manager Andy Fossa.

“That’s a true statement,” Browning said.

Browning said more than 94 percent of students showed up for school Wednesday, even more than attended the day before.

Brown said she’s glad she kept her son at home to help her prepare.

“The whole point is to make sure that everyone is preparing for the storm and that they have enough time,” Brown said.

Dr. Browning says the school district has already made the decision to keep schools closed on Friday, giving time to clean those shelters and bring those kids back from their home evacuations.

Hurricane Helene is now a Category 2 storm. Meteorologist Greg Dee gives an update on impacts to Florida.