PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Parents and teachers across Palm Beach County are questioning why the School District of Palm Beach County only decided to close some schools after flooding made roads difficult or impossible to navigate countywide.
Ten of the district's 182 district-operated schools were closed because of flooding. Nine were announced Wednesday, with a tenth Wednesday morning.
But WPTV heard from people across the county asking the same question: Why weren't all schools closed?
Education
10 Palm Beach County schools closed Wednesday
A WPTV Facebook post informing families about the closures quickly filled with comments from people describing conditions in their own neighborhoods. Some said all schools should have been closed, while others shared pictures of flooded roads outside their homes.
One person said they work at a school that remained open but live in an area affected by flooding.
"I was texting people in the morning trying to figure out if I can leave, even leave my community," said Kim Landis.
Landis is a fourth-grade teacher at Coral Sunset Elementary School in Boca Raton and is among those who contacted WPTV for help getting answers from the district.
Landis still reported to work, but when asked what her route there was like, she didn't hesitate.
"Horrible, horrible," Landis said.
She described encountering vehicles struggling with the conditions, including a school bus.
"There were vehicles that were stuck. There's been vehicles stuck since yesterday on the road. It's just, it's horrible," Landis said.
Her concern goes beyond the conditions immediately surrounding an individual school. Landis said teachers and students in choice programs may have to commute to schools outside the areas where they live, potentially putting them on roads affected by flooding even if their destination school is open.
"Why aren't all the districts closed? We have three hurricane days a year that we didn't even get to, we didn't use," Landis said.
The district sent a message telling families and staff, "Your personal safety is our top priority," and announced that students who miss class because of flooding will be excused.
For employees, however, the policy is different. Educators who cannot make it to work are required to use a sick or personal day.
"So if I called out, I would have to use my own time, which is not fair," Landis said. "Their top priority is the safety of all staff and students. Well, I'm not so sure about that if we had to come to work today.".
WPTV reached out to the school district to ask why it did not close schools districtwide.
The district responded with the following statement:
"The School District of Palm Beach County prioritizes student and staff safety while striving to keep as many of our 182 schools open as possible. Because Palm Beach County spans more than 2,300 square miles, weather and road conditions vary drastically from one neighborhood to the next. When flooding is localized rather than countywide, we evaluate conditions and make operational decisions on a campus-by-campus basis. This targeted approach prevents unaffected students from losing valuable instructional time.
For our educators and staff, personal safety comes first. Any employee unable to travel safely to work should follow our standard leave procedures and may use any available leave (sick, personal, comp, or annual leave). Employees are required to work or submit leave in order to be paid when their primary work location is open.
Families unable to safely transport their children to school due to flooded neighborhood streets should contact their school's front office so the student's absence can be excused.
There have been no reports of any school district buses getting stuck in water this morning.
"We thank our families, educators, and staff for their flexibility and cooperation," Sean Cooley, Chief of Communications for the School District of Palm Beach County said in a statement.
WPTV also asked why staff members affected by flooding are not being excused in the same way as students. As of the reporting of this story, the district had not responded to that question.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
