1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

I am writing today to implore that you consider forgiving Hillsborough County School District for the missed days due to Hurricane Milton. Prior to the hurricane hitting, our district missed three days due to schools being used as shelters. The fact that schools are used as shelters is not the fault of the district, the people working for the district, or the students/families attending schools in the district. The timeline for shelters is also not determined by the schools themselves but rather by government officials. The schools were closed ahead of the storm to give those in dangerous evacuation areas time to get to a safe space. Those three days should be excused by the government In addition, since the hurricane hit, our area has seen much devastation. As of today, there are still many roads that are impassable, trees and power lines down, flooded schools and neighborhoods, and hundreds of thousands without power. Many of our employees and students have faced complete devastation with their homes, and many will not have the means or ability to go back to school. Our community is in recovery mode doing the best we can to get back to normalcy. Hillsborough County Schools is currently determining the reopening of schools on a day-to-day basis based on the problems listed above. The post hurricane days should also be forgiven due to the nature of damages our families and schools are facing- Governor DeSantis, again I plead that you consider excusing the days missed, so they do not affect these families any more than they what they are already experiencing.