Beaufort County schools are dismissing class early for weather warnings. What to know
Beaufort County School District’s 21,000-plus students are being dismissed early from Thursday classes as a potential severe storm bears down on the Lowcountry.
Elementary schools will dismiss at 11:45 a.m., and middle and high schools will dismiss at 12:45 p.m. All afterschool activities are canceled, and “district buildings will be cleared and shut down by 1:30 p.m.,” according to a press release.
Jasper County, Hampton 1 and Hampton 2 School Districts are all conducting fully online classes Thursday.
“Students are expected to log-in, on time, to receive instruction from their teacher(s),” a Jasper County School District press release read. “Attendance will be taken.”
Beaufort County School District has also postponed one vaccination clinic for employees, which was scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon at Bluffton Early Childhood Center. The event will be rescheduled for next week, according to the release.
A vaccine clinic at Hilton Head Hospital will still take place Thursday from from 3 to 6 p.m. A similar clinic at the hospital last Thursday saw 200 employees get their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Private and charter schools across the county have also announced early dismissals:
- Hilton Head Preparatory School is dismissing “all divisions” at 1:10 p.m.
- Cross Schools in Bluffton is dismissing students early: Kindergarten through fourth grade students will leave at 11:15 a.m., fifth through ninth grade students will leave at 11:30 a.m. and preschoolers will leave at 12 p.m.
- Hilton Head Christian Academy is dismissing students at 1 p.m., with lower school students and bus riders leaving at 12:45 p.m.
- Beaufort Academy will dismiss at 11:30 a.m.
- Riverview Charter School is dismissing students at 12 p.m., and the building will be cleared by 1 p.m.
According to the National Weather Service Charleston’s noon forecast, “significant tornadoes, wind damage and large hail will be possible from morning into afternoon” Thursday.
Beaufort County is expected to receive the worst of the storm between 3 and 8 p.m.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 6:16 PM.