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OCPS Staff Respond to Hurricane Ian

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Hurricane Ian Volunteers

The storm response was led by the Office of Emergency Management.

Departments that worked at the Emergency Coordination Center and school shelters during Hurricane Ian include: District Police; Environmental Compliance and Sustainability; Facilities, including Custodial and Maintenance; Food and Nutrition Services; Information Technology; Risk Management; Surplus; Teaching and Learning; and Transportation

Thirteen OCPS schools were shelters, including three for people with special needs and service animals and three that accepted pets: Apopka, Dr. Phillips, Freedom, Oak Ridge, Ocoee, Olympia, Timber Creek and University high schools and Apopka, Memorial, Ocoee, Southwest and Timber Springs middle schools

Nearly 1,500 Orange County residents evacuated their homes and stayed at one of our school shelters, and more than 100 pets sheltered with their families.

About 350 families and employees affected by the storm have been helped by the Foundation for OCPS.

OCPS Staff Respond Courageously to Hurricane Ian

By Sandra Carr

After Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc across Florida and caused flooding and power outages throughout Orange County, OCPS employees did what we do best - pull together to help.

Nearly 300 employees from across OCPS divisions worked during or after the storm to help the district or the community. Some were based at the Emergency Coordination Center or a school shelter during the storm or beyond. Others helped with cleanup. District families, schools and employees have helped by gathering donations or giving to the Hurricane Ian Relief Fund. And in the area around Riverdale Elementary, which was one of the hardest hit in the storm, the OCPS community rallied around a principal in need.

Shelters
Timber Creek High School was one of OCPS’ pet shelters during Hurricane Ian. The school’s gym housed more than 400 evacuees and the locker room had around 50 pets. Fifteen district staff members stayed at the shelter throughout and after the storm.

Local residents also came to the rescue.

“The entire community stepped up and was eager to help during Hurricane Ian,” said Timber Creek High School Principal Kelly Paduano, who is a Stellar Awards finalist. “People who sheltered at the school were grateful for receiving clothes and having a dry place to stay and take care of their families.”

Citizens who required medical attention or special care sheltered at Olympia and University high schools. Freedom High was a back-up special-needs shelter.

University High, which had 68 evacuees and more than 10 OCPS staff members, used its gym and several adjacent classrooms to host guests and medical personnel. Rows of cots were set up in the gym to accommodate 100 people. Equipment such as oxygen tanks, biomedical-waste containers, cribs, gurneys and wheelchairs were placed in strategic locations around the periphery of the gym.

District shelters are essential for assisting a community during a catastrophe.

“Educators have always known that we need the support of our local communities to ensure our schools are the best, and the need for that support goes both ways,” said University High School Principal Thomas Ott. “Student safety is our first priority, and we must apply that same attention and viewpoint to our communities when needed.”

The reason the principals were prepared to run a shelter was Emergency Management Department training provided last July. Ott and Paduano felt the training helped them transform their schools into refuges during Hurricane Ian.

The workshop covers various topics, including assistant principal and principal roles and responsibilities, shelter opening and closing inspections and school pre-storm and post-storm preparations.

“Shelters provide a safe haven for evacuees,” said Emergency Management Office Director Lou Alexis. “The training provides support, tools and essential resources to district administrators, shelter managers and evacuees to make their stay as comfortable as possible.”

Helping Riverdale Elementary and hard-hit families

The hardest-hit school was Riverdale Elementary, which was flooded on all sides during the storm. The district provided the school with crucial assistance along with helping students and teachers relocate to East River High and busing students to University High until the campus is operational and safe.

OCPS departments helped Riverdale Elementary in other ways, including Curriculum and Digital Learning; Environmental Compliance and Sustainability; Facilities; Information Technology; Procurement; Risk Management; Emergency Management; and Teaching and Learning.

The Foundation for Orange County Public Schools has collected Ian-related relief dollars totaling about $100,000. In addition to individuals, gifts and grants have been committed by CVS Health, Duke Energy, the DeVos Family Foundation and Addition Financial.

The foundation is actively delivering gift cards for groceries, gas and clothing to employees and students’ families, and several families have been provided with hotel rooms. Thanks to the DeVos Foundation, the Foundation for OCPS has also been able to purchase every item on the Amazon wish lists of Riverdale Elementary School’s teachers so they could restock their classrooms with books, school supplies and other materials, with some dollars left over to benefit the school as a whole!

And while the relief fund is still receiving forms requesting assistance and will continue to provide help in the form of gift cards for groceries and clothing, about 350 people have been helped through the end of October.

A group effort for one of our own

The Maguire family, including Orlando Gifted Academy Principal Sean Maguire, Audubon Park School Intervention Teacher Amy Maguire, their son, Chase, a sophomore at University High, and daughter, Emily, an eighth grader at Audubon Park School, live near Riverdale Elementary in east Orlando.

When they woke up on Sept. 29, their home was completely surrounded by rising water from the street and the retention pond in the backyard. The family grabbed essential items and whatever else they could carry and traveled on foot to Sean Maguire’s parents’ home nearby.

By that evening, 10-12 inches of water had covered the entire first floor of their house and remained for more than 20 hours, damaging their appliances, baseboards and trim, cabinets, drywall and furniture.

Innovation Office Executive Area Director Jenny Gibson organized a 15-member team, including Innovation Office Associate Superintendent John Wright, Aloma Elementary School Principal Don Vega and other OCPS administrators, to help the Maguires with cutting back drywall, removing kitchen cabinets and countertops and carpet and hauling debris to a dumpster in the driveway on Oct. 15.

The Maguires also received a gift from Audubon Park School’s staff to help pay for repairs. The Maguires hope to move back into their house before the end of the year.

“My family and I are very blessed by all of the support that we have received from OCPS,” Sean Maguire said. “Hurricane Ian impacted many OCPS employees and students throughout Orange County. My family is fortunate to have such a caring support group to help us get through this difficult time. The willingness of our OCPS family to go the extra mile to help us in our time of need has meant the world to us.”

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