Gulf County schools to close Thursday, Friday
UPDATE —
Faith Christian School will also close through the end of the week.
Gulf Coast State College will remain open, but they encourage students to closely monitor their website for updates.
ORIGINAL REPORT —
Gulf District Schools announced the closure of all public schools in the county for Thursday, November 10, and Friday, November 11, due to the uncertainty associated with the approaching Tropical Storm Nicole.
Superintendent Jim Norton said the call was largely made due to projected high wind speeds and rainfall, which could leave school busses unable to make their routes.
“Sixty percent of our bus routes go down dirt roads,” Norton said. “We’ve always got to have time after heavy, heavy rain or winds to go assess the routes and make sure trees aren’t down, power lines aren’t down.”
In-person Veterans Day programing at Wewahitchka High School was cancelled on Friday. They are presently working to compile a virtual program.
The two days will come out of 15 weather days built in to the school district’s annual calendar, meaning they will not have to be made up by students at a later date.
“Experience has taught us that this type of weather can be quite unpredictable and we want to be certain that every precaution has been taken to keep our students and staff out of harm’s way,” wrote the school district in a release. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope that will understand our need to take such precautions.”
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.