Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) continues to monitor and track Hurricane Helene (previously Tropical Storm) and schools in Orlando will be closed due to the forecast.
Based on this evening’s forecast, OCPS announced that schools will be closed on Thursday, September 26th and all after-school activities must end by 6pm tomorrow, September 25th.
This is due to the projected sustained wind speeds that will exceed 35 mph and wind gusts over 50 mph in Orange County.
Any decision to close schools on Friday, September 27th will be determined by the impact on Orange County and Orlando as well as the storm, according to OCPS.
The primary decision point for any potential closure is based on sustained wind speeds that are projected to exceed 35 mph. That is the threshold for OCPS buses to be safely on the roads.
The district’s Safety and Emergency Management team works closely with the Orange County Office of Emergency Management and other local officials to ensure the school district’s decision-making is aligned with other partners.
As Central Florida braces for the storm, OCPS will communicate all additional updates with families and employees through Connect Orange phone calls/emails/text messages, posts to OCPS social media pages and on online.
