Hurricane Irma: Sarasota County Schools Announce Plans

SARASOTA, FL — Sarasota County public school students are getting an extra-long weekend courtesy of Hurricane Irma. The school district on Wednesday announced its intention to close down ahead of the storm.

The district plans to close all schools and offices on Friday, Sept. 8. The closing also impacts extra-curricular activities, including football and after-school care. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Sarasota Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

“The safety of students, parents and the community is always our first concern,” Superintendent Todd Bowden said in a Wednesday statement. “As a precaution and because some schools serve as emergency shelters, we are closing schools Friday. We will continue to keep a close eye on Hurricane Irma and will make any future weather-related decisions in close consultation with our partners at Sarasota County Emergency Management.”

Watch: Hurricane Irma Pummels The Caribbean; Florida Could Be Next

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Hurricane Irma was on a collision course with the Virgin Islands late Wednesday morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. The potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm’s track shifted in the overnight hours to include almost the entire Florida Peninsula. Her projected path shows has her impacting the Florida peninsula late in the weekend and early on Monday.

• Also see: Hurricane Irma Closing In On Florida

By Wednesday morning, hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 50 miles from the center. Tropical storm-force winds were extending outward by 185 miles.

While it’s still too early to tell the precise impacts Irma might have on Florida or the United States, forecasters say she bears close monitoring. Irma is expected to remain a major hurricane through the week. The threat Irma poses to Florida prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency on Monday. The declaration includes all 67 counties within the Sunshine State.

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