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Solar eclipse 2024: Central Texas school districts to close April 8

By
Published  March 6, 2024 8:13pm CST
Eclipses
FOX 7 Austin

Solar eclipse: CTX school districts to close

A few Central Texas school districts have announced they will close on April 8 due to the eclipse hitting Texas.

TEXAS - For a lot of students, canceling school is exciting as is.

"I'm excited to not be at school, but at the same time, I'm really happy that our city gets to see this," said Rachel Yang, a senior at Lake Travis ISD.

Add a total solar eclipse to the day off, and that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I'm really excited to experience something super rare," said Yang.

Lake Travis ISD announced it is joining a handful of other Central Texas schools and is closing its doors on April 8 for the eclipse.

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"We are expecting a lot of people, and that is likely an understatement," said Marco Alvarado, the executive director for communications at Lake Travis ISD.

After talking with county officials and first responders, the district said it had some concerns about what the influx of people would mean for local infrastructure.

"Traffic gridlock," said Alvarado. "The start of the school day could be an issue for campuses and, of course, pick up right. Dismissal could also be a real challenge."

Even teachers were already submitting time off requests for the big day.

"We knew already going into this day that potentially we were going to have a need for substitute teachers and a need for volunteers at the campus level, so there were just a lot of operational considerations," said Alvarado. 

Without class on the day of the eclipse, the district said it plans to teach about it beforehand.

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"There are going to be some classroom lessons leading up to the event over the next few weeks," said Alvarado. "Lots of excitement about the eclipse, and so this is just a great opportunity for our families to be together."

It's a chance to learn a lesson outside the classroom.

"I’m really excited to experience it with my dogs and stuff 'cause I wonder what they’re going to think about it and if I could FaceTime my friends," said Yang. "Also, I feel like it could be really fun to do it not on campus."

The district said it will have some solar eclipse viewers available as the supply lasts.

The following school districts also shared that it is closing for the total solar eclipse: