Three South Florida districts reopened, or made plans to do so, last week as electricity was restored to areas hit hard by Hurricane Wilma.
The 355,000-student Miami-Dade County schools reopened on Nov. 3, nearly two weeks after the Oct. 24 storm hit. The neighboring Broward County schools, a 272,000-student system based in Fort Lauderdale, was planning to reopen for classes Nov. 7, as was the 180,000-student Palm Beach County district.
John Winn, the state commissioner of education, announced on Nov. 3 that state education officials would consider waivers of the required 900 hours of annual instruction for districts that have missed more than six days of school. State officials will negotiate some flexibility, Mr. Winn said in a statement.
Districts in storm-damaged areas that have closed schools for 11 days or more will have up to two extra weeks to administer state tests, Mr. Winn said. Districts missing six to 10 days will have one extra week to administer tests, and systems closed for five days or less are expected to administer tests on a normal schedule, he said.
