Hurricane Milton: School and university closures in Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. – Hurricane Milton is on a path toward Central Florida and is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane.

Here are the responses from Central Florida school districts ahead of the storm and updates for

Brevard County

All Brevard Public Schools and offices will be closed Wednesday, Oct. , and Thursday, Oct. 10.

Flagler County

No information provided yet.

Lake County

Lake County public schools are open Monday, Oct. 7. The district will announce on Monday any changes to school operations resulting from Hurricane Milton. The announcement will be shared directly with parents by email and phone call. It will also be posted on district and school web pages and on district and school official social media pages.

Marion County

MCPS will close Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10, due to Hurricane Milton. All after-school extracurricular activities on Tuesday, Oct. 8, are also canceled.

Polk County

All PCPS schools and offices will be closed on Tuesday, Oct. 8, Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10, in response to this storm.

Orange County

We are continuing to monitor and track Hurricane Milton. District leadership has been meeting to discuss preparations for the storm’s impact on Orange County. The OCPS Safety & Emergency Management team is coordinating operations with the Orange County Office of Emergency Management and other local officials to ensure the school district’s decision-making is aligned with our partners.

We will have another update on Monday on any potential school closures and canceling of after-school activities.

OCPS will continue to communicate all updates through phone calls, emails and text messages, as well as posts to our social media pages, and on ocps.net.

Osceola County

Monday, Oct. 7, and Tuesday, Oct. 8 school will be in session

• All after-school activities, events, and athletics at all schools will operate as normal on Monday but will be cancelled for Tuesday.

• The district’s Extended Day/Learning Program will operate as normal on both Monday and Tuesday.

• The Osceola County School Board workshop and Board meeting that was to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 8, have been cancelled. The next Osceola County School Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22.

• All Osceola schools will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 9, for Hurricane Milton.

Seminole County

We are working closely with Seminole County FL Emergency Management to monitor weather conditions due to Tropical Storm Milton. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.

Sumter County

No information provided yet.

Volusia County

At this time, all after-school activities except for Extended Day Enrichment Programs will be canceled on Monday, Oct. 7.

VCS will announce further information on Monday about potential school closures after our morning briefing with Volusia County Emergency Management.

Universities and Colleges

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Due to Hurricane Milton, all classes and events at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus will be closed from Oct. 8-10. We encourage students to prioritize safety, update families of travel plans and stay updated via campus alerts.

Florida Tech

University residence halls will remain open throughout the week. The current expectation is that residential students will shelter in place.

Normal operations are planned, and all classes will meet as scheduled Monday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday morning, Oct. 8.

Classes are canceled beginning at noon Tuesday, Oct. 8 so members of the campus community may prepare for the storm. Classes are canceled all day Wednesday, Oct. 9. Classes are canceled Thursday, Oct. 10, at least until noon.

Classes are scheduled to resume virtually at noon Thursday, Oct. 10. Classes will be delivered virtually Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, Oct. 11.

University offices will close beginning noon Tuesday, Oct. 8 and remain closed Wednesday, Oct. 9. Offices are anticipated to re-open at noon Thursday, Oct. 10.

University events are canceled beginning Tuesday, Oct. 8 at noon and tentatively set to resume Thursday afternoon, Oct. 10.

Polk State College

Polk State College and its collegiate high school offices will be closed Tuesday, Oct. 8, through Thursday, Oct. 10, due to Hurricane Milton. While College offices will be closed, remote instruction on Tuesday may be maintained. Students are encouraged to check their Canvas and my.polk.edu email accounts for communication from their professors regarding Tuesday classes. Instruction for online and the remote portion of hybrid classes may take place as scheduled on Tuesday, October 8, and some in-person courses may be moved online. Professors will communicate with their students about modality and will exercise flexibility with students who may encounter impacts of the storm, such as power and internet outages.

There will be no classes held on Wednesday or Thursday.

Rollins College

Based on the current forecast of Hurricane Milton, all in-person classes & events are canceled Oct. 7-11. Residential students must evacuate campus and follow their Hurricane/Emergency Evacuation plan. The campus will close at 5 p.m. Oct. 8.

Stetson University

Due to the storm’s projected path, Stetson will close the entire DeLand campus and all residential facilities on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m. through Thursday, Oct. 10.

Students must return home, seek shelter with friends and family, or stay at a local emergency shelter.

All classes on the DeLand campus will be canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, ahead of Fall Break on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.

UCF

In anticipation of Hurricane Milton’s arrival — and to give our community time to leave the area, prepare for the storm and return — UCF will suspend operations on all campuses and all classes, including online classes, from Tuesday, Oct. 8, through Thursday, Oct. 10.

Standard operations will continue through 11:59 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, and are planned to resume at 6 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Following the storm, we will assess campus and local conditions and provide more specific updates about our anticipated Friday reopening

Valencia College

Due to the potential impact of Hurricane Milton, Valencia College will be closed Tuesday through Thursday. All in-person and online classes during that time will be canceled.

Monday classes will continue as scheduled. We are planning to reopen and resume normal business operations on Friday. Please continue to check social media and valenciacollege.edu/hurricane for updates.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: