Houston Cancels First Day of School as Hurricane Harvey Moves Closer

The Houston Independent School District has postponed the start of the new school year thanks to Hurricane Harvey, which is moving closer to the Texas Gulf Coast. HISD students were scheduled to start on Monday, August 28, but the state’s largest school district will instead start school on Tuesday, August 29.

For a complete list of all school closings in Southeast Texas, click here to go to KHOU’s list.

According to ABC13, Harvey is expected to be a “major hurricane” when it makes landfall Friday evening into Saturday morning. It continues to intensify as it moves closer to land. The storm could be the first category 3 storm to make landfall in the U.S. since 2005’s Hurricane Wilma. Evacuation orders for coastal areas have already been ordered.

The district announced that all campus-based events scheduled for after 2 p.m. Friday, August 25 have been cancelled. All athletic activities, including games and practices, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, August 26 have also been cancelled.

Officials said all campus and district activities scheduled for Monday, August 28 are cancelled because of the hurricane. While plans are to start school on the following day, officials will meet on Sunday, August 27 to decide if it will be safe to begin classes.

HISD Spokesman Tracy Clemons told the Houston Chronicle that officials have been getting updates from the Harris County Emergency Management office. They are concerned about schools in the Meyerland area and crews are already putting sandbags at schools there.

If you’d like to receive text updates and weather alerts from the school district, text “YES” to 68453.

Other Houston School Cancellations

Houston Community College is closing early at 3 p.m. on Friday. All Saturday, Sunday and Monday activities have been cancelled also.

The University of Houston is closing all campuses – including UH Katy and UH Sugar Land – at 1 p.m. ET Friday. The university will be closed through Sunday, when officials will decide if they plan to re-open on Monday. The last day to join classes was originally Monday, but that’s been moved to Tuesday.

Texas Southern University plans to be open on Friday, but has cancelled all activities for Saturday and Sunday. If you’ve already registered for classes, you don’t have to go to orientation.

The University of St. Thomas Houston still plans on being open Friday and Monday.

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