Manatee County Schools to Reopen on Tuesday, October 15

Parents and Families,

Thanks to the tireless work of school district maintenance, custodial and food service operations teams, as well as school principals and their staff, the School District of Manatee County will reopen to students tomorrow morning, Tuesday, October 15, 2024.

We are aware and understand that many of you – like many school district employees - continue to face challenges. Our hearts are with all of you and your families during these difficult times. It is our hope that a return to school can provide a sense of normalcy for your students and families and that this can be a significant step on the road to recovery.

As of this afternoon, all of our schools have power, including Manatee Technical College. Our operations teams have been busy assessing and repairing facilities while cleaning the 17 schools that served as shelters. We are thankful to everyone involved in these efforts, as well as all the employees who selflessly put in the many hours to host more than 11,000 residents and evacuees in our schools during the storm.

Even so, in the wake of Hurricane Milton, we are aware and caution you that reopening schools tomorrow will not be without challenges. We ask that you and your students approach the reopening of school tomorrow as if it were the first day of school. The timing of bus routes could be delayed and there could be unexpected outages of power or air-conditioning at various times and schools. We ask for your patience and grace in these situations, and we especially encourage everyone to exercise additional caution on our roads and around our school buses. Parents, please examine and make sure your child’s path to schools and bus stops are safe and clear of debris.

Tomorrow begins Quarter 2. We are working with schools to be sure that Quarter 1 grades will be finalized in a flexible manner that meets student and teacher needs. Further information will be provided as we progress through the week.

We are excited to welcome our students back to our schools and classrooms tomorrow. Working together, Manatee County will recover and rebuild.

Thank you.