by Bethany Blankley
As of Tuesday, Oct. 18, all schools impacted by Hurricane Ian are open.
More than $200 million has been granted to schools that have demonstrated student growth and teaching excellence, including $13 million to schools in southwest Florida greatly impacted by Hurricane Ian.
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited teachers and students at Toledo Blade Elementary in North Port in Sarasota County on their first day back to school after having been closed for nearly three weeks.
As of Tuesday, less than three weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall, all school districts impacted by the hurricane are open. Ahead of Hurricane Ian making landfall, 59 school districts had closed.
DeSantis announced that more than $200 million in awards are being granted to 1,400 schools statewide through Florida’s School Recognition Program.
In Southwest Florida, 96 schools are receiving $13 million.
The governor congratulated everyone for their hard work in reopening schools and said the grant money “can be used to give our hard-working teachers bonuses, and are particularly important in Southwest Florida where they will go a long way toward helping our teachers in the area get back on their feet.”
In Sarasota County, 24 schools will receive a total of $3.8 million, including Toledo Blade Elementary, which received nearly $150,000.
Receiving the school recognition funds was “a testament to their commitment to academic excellence,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., said, adding that he was “proud of the work they have done to quickly get kids back in the classroom.”
Other schools in south Florida include 27 in Lee County, which was ground zero for Hurricane Ian’s landfall. The schools will receive a total of $3.6 million.
On Monday, Oct. 17, 35 schools reopened in Lee County; on Tuesday another 12 reopened.
Reopening schools impacted by the hurricane was a monumental task. Staff from school districts across the state traveled to Lee County to help with recovery efforts including from Bay, Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Pinellas and Polk counties. The School District of Lee County, the Department of Education, utility companies, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Tesla’s Starlink all made it possible to facilitate the movement of portable classrooms and classroom supplies, the Department of Education said in a press release.
“Ensuring children can return to school is an important step in recovery and gives children consistency and normalcy,” Gov. DeSantis said when visiting Gulf Elementary School in Cape Coral, Lee County, last week. “Lee County was ground-zero following Hurricane Ian and the efforts to get these schools back up and running has been great.”
Additional schools in south Florida receiving funding through the School Recognition Program are located in Collier, Charlotte and Hardee counties.
In Collier County, 38 schools will receive $5 million; six schools in Charlotte County will receive over $600,000; Bowling Green Elementary in Hardee County will receive $54,000.
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Teacher and Students” by 14995841.
