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New Orleans Public Schools Cancel Friday Classes Citing Widespread Power Outages

Aubri Juhasz
/
WWNO

New Orleans public schools will remain closed through at least Friday as the district works to assess power outages and building damage from Hurricane Zeta. All classes virtual and in-person are canceled, the district announced in a Thursday press release.

“Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. and his team are working with schools to determine the conditions of all facilities and plan any necessary recovery efforts,” district spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo wrote in the release.

Alfonso did not disclose whether schools are currently without power, but wrote that the district “will consider the progress of Entergy to restore power, the needs of our school community, and the availability of city services to guide the appropriate timeline for a concerted return to in-person and distance learning for students at all grade levels.”

Families and schools can expect an update on next week’s operations on Sunday, Alfonzo wrote. The district’s weekly COVID-19 data drop, usually scheduled for Thursdays at 4 p.m., has been pushed to tomorrow.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 120,000 homes in Orleans Parish were without power. With 40 percent of public school students currently learning online, many students will be unable to resume classes until electricity and internet service has been restored.

For some schools, Hurricane Zeta has disrupted their plans to return older students to the classroom. At this stage in the district’s reopening process, all students have the option to select in-person or virtual learning, though some charters are still in the process of re-opening classrooms.

Middle school students at Akili Academy of New Orleans in the 9th Ward were scheduled to return to the classroom this week. Their return has now been postponed until Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Aubri Juhasz covers K-12 education, focusing on charter schools, education funding, and other statewide issues. She also helps edit the station’s news coverage.

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