Florida schools scramble to get students back in class after Hurricane Michael

Florida Panhandle officials are trying to figure out how to resume classes after Hurricane Michael damaged or destroyed many schools last week.

Schools in at least eight counties – Washington, Liberty, Jackson, Gulf, Gadsden, Franklin, Calhoun and Bay – will remain closed until further notice, the office of Gov. Rick Scott said Monday in a news release.

The challenge is especially daunting in Bay County.

“I would say every single school in Bay County has some type of damage, some more extensive than others,” said Steve Moss, vice chairman of Bay District School Board. “Some it’ll probably take weeks or months to get online. Some it will take years.

“The only thing left of some of our schools … is the foundation.”

Moss said he and his colleagues are working to come up with a plan to get thousands of students back in the classroom as soon as possible.

This photo shows debris and destruction in Mexico Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, after Hurricane Michael went through the area on Wednesday. Mexico Beach, the ground-zero town, was nearly obliterated by the hurricane, an official said Friday as the scale of the storm's fury became ever clearer. (Bronte Wittpenn/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Hurricane Michael aftermath: Thousands join recovery efforts as many residents remain missing

“We basically have 26,000 students here in Bay County,” he said. “They still need educational services. They still need to learn.”

High school seniors have been told they will be able to graduate, Moss said. Younger students won’t be held back from the next grade.

“Now, to be able to do that, they have to been in a classroom setting,” according to state law, Moss said, with the wreckage of Jinks Middle School’s gymnasium in Panama City, Florida, behind him.

It was just renovated last month, with a new floor and lighting, Moss said. But now the gym’s interior is completely exposed to the elements and the floor is littered with debris.

Bay County’s school officials are holding a meeting Monday morning to discuss how to get students back in classrooms, Moss said.

Reopening schools is more ‘critical’ than some think

Craig Fugate, a former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, stressed the importance of getting schools up and running after a storm.

“Getting schools open … is far more critical than most people realize,” he said in an interview with CNN last year.

When kids can’t go to school, some parents have to stay home and can’t work. And for some low-income families, school is where kids get nutritious meals.

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Florida Gov. Rick Scott tour a Lynn Haven, Florida, neighborhood that was affected by Hurricane Michael.

Lisa Patrick is overcome with emotion as she visits the remains of her home in Mexico Beach, Florida, on Monday, October 15.

The President and first lady hand out bottles of water to people in Lynn Haven on October 15.

The Trumps tour damage in Lynn Haven.

President Trump flies over the devastation in Mexico Beach.

Mexico Beach residents make their way across a washed-out road on Friday, October 12.

An aerial view shows the devastation in Mexico Beach on October 12. The small beach resort saw the brunt of Michael, authorities say.

Dough Shelby looks out at the destruction from his house in Mexico Beach on October 12.

Little remains of a burned home destroyed by the hurricane in Mexico Beach on October 12.

Benny Hobson sits in his recliner on Thursday, October 11, after losing the front wall of his house in Panama City, Florida.

Storm-damaged boats are piled up in Panama City on October 11.

Elizabeth Hanson, right, and her daughter Emaly hug their neighbor Cindy Clark on October 11. The hurricane heavily damaged their homes in Mexico Beach.

Collector cars are covered in debris in Panama City on October 11.

Tom Bailey walks his bike past a home that was carried across a road and slammed up against a condo complex in Mexico Beach.

Joyce Fox stands in front of her heavily damaged home in Panama City on October 11.

A boat sits amid debris in Mexico Beach on October 11.

Kylie Strampe holds her 4-month-old daughter, Lola, while surveying the damage in Callaway, Florida, on October 11.

Trees snapped by Michael's winds are seen in Mexico Beach on October 11.

Amanda Logsdon faces a heavy cleanup task at her Panama City house on October 11.

Rescue personnel search Mexico Beach.

A man walks through a damaged store in Springfield, Florida.

An aerial photo shows a destroyed boat in Mexico Beach on October 11.

A tree sits on top of a Panama City mobile home. Almost all the residents of the mobile-home park rode out the storm. All homes were damaged except one.

Kathy Coy stands among what is left of her home in Panama City. She said she was in the home when it was blown apart and is thankful to be alive.

The view from a Panama City hotel room that lost a wall in the storm.

Firefighter Austin Schlarb performs a door-to-door search in Mexico Beach on October 11.

Damaged buildings are seen in Panama City on October 11.

Debris is scattered in Mexico Beach early on October 11.

Wreckage is piled up in Mexico Beach, near where Michael made landfall.

Debris burns in Mexico Beach on October 11.

Haley Nelson inspects damage at her family properties in the Panama City area on Wednesday, October 10.

Cars are tossed among the debris in Mexico Beach.

Kaylee O'Brian cries inside her Panama City home after several trees fell on it on October 10.

Floodwaters overwhelm vehicles in Panama City on Wednesday, October 10.

A storm chaser climbs into his vehicle to retrieve equipment after a hotel canopy collapsed in Panama City Beach on October 10.

A helicopter circles a Panama City neighborhood in the storm's wake on October 10.

A woman and her children wait near a destroyed gas station in Panama City on October 10.

A McDonald's sign is mangled in Panama City on October 10.

Boats are left damaged in a Panama City marina on October 10.

People comfort each other outside an apartment building in Panama City.

People make their way through a building's wreckage in Panama City on October 10.

The powerful hurricane left houses battered in Panama City Beach.

Phlomena Telker stands on the remains of her covered porch in Panama City.

Boats are damaged at the Port St. Joe Marina in the Florida Panhandle.

Lenora Adams evacuates a motel with her dog as the hurricane comes ashore in Panacea, Florida, on October 10.

Rick Tesk, left, helps a business owner rescue his dogs from a damaged business in Panama City.

Wrecked boats sit near a pier in Panama City.

A resident of St. Marks, Florida, pulls a cooler out of the floodwaters near his home.

Pine trees litter a yard in Port St. Joe.

Streets begin to flood as high tide approaches in St. Petersburg, Florida, on October 10.

Mike Lindsey stands in his Panama City antique shop after it was damaged by Hurricane Michael on October 10.

Trees lie on top of a home in Panama City.

Bo Lynn's Market is flooded in St. Marks on October 10.

A truck drives along a road in Alligator Point, Florida, that had been washed out by the storm on October 10.

Waves hit a house in Alligator Point on October 10.

The eye of the storm, as seen from the International Space Station on October 10.