Three Bay District Schools closed due to wildfires

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Three Bay County schools will be closed Monday due to wildfires burning in the area.

Bay District Schools announced Tommy Smith Elementary, Waller Elementary, and Merritt Brown Middle School will be closed Monday only at this time.

Officials say this is out of an abundance of caution since the situation is very fluid.

They say employees, with the exception of administrators, will be off Monday and the schools will be closed to students.

“We know this is an inconvenience for many families but we also know that evacuations and other challenges are placing an undue burden on those communities and we want to do what we can to support those families,” a press release from the school district says. “We also know that many of our employees have had to evacuate and that getting to work [Monday] could be challenging. We have sent out a Google form to find out how we can help and administrators will be in touch with employees in need if they haven’t already done so. We are working with a myriad of community agencies who want to help our employees and we encourage all employees to complete the google form if they haven’t already done so.”

All other Bay District Schools will be open.