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Palm Beach County Schools To Close Thursday & Friday

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PALM BEACH COUNTY (CBSMiami) -- With the threat of Hurricane Matthew looming, Palm Beach County Public Schools and district offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

The closings are necessary to allow the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management to prepare to open emergency shelters, many of which are located in District schools. All schools will be in session Wednesday.

This closing includes all District-related events and services scheduled for Wednesday after school through Sunday as well as any events scheduled on District campuses.

All District events scheduled on any school campus or facility are cancelled Wednesday after the last school bell on each campus through Sunday.

School- operated after school child care will be operational for Wednesday, but parents are being asked to pick up their children as early as possible.  All District-support offices and facility buildings will close at their regular business time on Wednesday.

The School Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday is cancelled. The District has also cancelled all student travel for any school related field trip or athletic event in or out of the District that was planned for this Wednesday through Sunday.

Schools in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties will remain open Wednesday. After-school programs will also remain open until 6 p.m. However, all extra-curricular activities will be cancelled.

As for Thursday and Friday, Broward officials announced at a press conference that schools will be closed those days. Miami-Dade officials are waiting on more information before making a decision.

Matthew, a Category 4 storm packing winds of 145 mph, pummeled parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Tuesday and is expected to head north over Cuba and the Bahamas before nearing the Florida coast by Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for a 230-mile stretch from Deerfield Beach near Fort Lauderdale to the Daytona Beach area, meaning hurricane force winds of 74 mph or higher could occur within two days. A tropical storm watch was issued from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys to Deerfield.

 

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