Solar eclipse 2024: Excused absences will be allowed at some Jacksonville area schools

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax has been telling you about the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday.

Jacksonville will experience a partial eclipse.

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Our local school districts are asking families to prepare ahead of time.

Duval County and St Johns County public schools are giving parents the option to keep their kids home from school on the day of the solar eclipse, on April 8.

Both districts are encouraging proper safety for the day.

The SJCSD sent an email to families saying for safety reasons, “schools will not organize viewing activities of the solar eclipse.”

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In a DCPS parent letter, the district says all outdoor activities between 1 and 4:30 p.m. the day of, including athletic practices, will be moved indoors.

Regular dismissal that day will not be affected.

Both districts say absences will be excused for students with parents who choose to keep their kids at home on the day of the eclipse.

Duval does have a section at the bottom of the parent letter that you can fill out to choose how you handle dismissal that day.

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The options include picking up your child early, keeping your child at school, or keeping them home that day for an excused absence.

Action News Jax has also heard from other school districts in our area about their eclipse plans. Ware County Schools said it is “not changing our typical practice for the eclipse.” The Bradford County School District said if parents choose to check their child out of school after 12 p.m., “the time of absence will be excused with a parent note.”

Ware County School District said there would be no changes to its school day, and Clay County District Schools said it would be limiting outdoor activity for students between the hours 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

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The Nassau County School District said classes will continue as usual, but if parents decide to check their children out after 12 p.m., the absence will be excused with a parent note.

Putnam County School District said it will not allow any outdoor activities from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Also, parents who wish to check their students out of school early or keep them home will have the absence excused if they provide a note.

If we receive updates from any other school districts in our area, we will update this story.

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