Howard County Public Schools opent tomorrow, 8/30/11?

[Anonymous]

I know there are many still w/o power.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked at the HCPSS website?

[Anonymous]

August 29, 2011 (#2011-21)

Howard County Public Schools Open on Tuesday

Superintendent Sydney Cousin announced this afternoon that Howard County public schools will open tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 30, even if power has not been restored to all schools. At 4:00 pm today, 12 county schools were still without power. Dr. Cousin indicated that any schools without power will be closed, but the remainder of the schools will open on time. Â

School officials are confident that the varying degrees of water damage found in nearly half the system's 73 schools would be cleaned up by the end of the day today. Crews also worked to clear debris from play fields and playground areas.

Athletic practices will be held at all high schools tomorrow, even if the school is closed due to power outage. "We have games scheduled for Friday," says Athletics Coordinator Mike Williams, "so we want to make sure all teams have adequate and equitable practice time."

"It can be difficult for parents to understand why we can't open schools when they look around their neighborhoods and see little or no significant storm damage," says Dr. Cousin. "There were parts of the county that were hit harder than other areas. We had a lot of cleanup work to do. That began on Sunday and will continue through today and beyond. In the end, it all comes down to student safety. That's always priority number one."

The Superintendent reminds Howard County parents to watch for school closing information on Tuesday morning because the status of individual schools may change.

Howard County schools without power as of 4:00 pm today include:

Atholton HS
Clemens Crossing ES
Dayton Oaks ES
Dunloggin MS
Folly Quarter MS
Glenelg HS
Marriotts Ridge HS
Mount View MS
Northfield ES
St. John's Lane ES
Triadelphia Ridge ES
West Friendship ES