Colleges make different calls in Southwest Florida on when to cancel class

Colleges and universities in Southwest Florida have made differing calls on when or whether to close classes down.

In the Sarasota area, New College of Florida announced it would cancel classes as of 10 a.m. on Monday, and that will continue through Friday. As Hurricane Ian tracks toward Tampa Bay in the latest forecasts, school officials said the decision came after a hurricane watch was called for the area.

The decision came shortly after the University of South Florida canceled all classes for the week at all campuses, including its Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Ringling College of Art and Design announced it will shut down its data center beginning at 2 p.m. on Monday. All classes have been canceled all week and the Ringling campus will close as of Tuesday at noon.

State College of Florida, however, is continuing normal operations on Monday. A decision will be made at 6 p.m. as to whether classes will resume as normal on Tuesday and Wednesday, based on forecasts at the time.

Further south, where there appears to be less risk of a direct hit from Ian, colleges and universities are continuing to monitor the situation.

Florida Gulf Coast University announced all classes and campus activities will continue as planned on Monday. But the school expects to make announcements about the following day in a 2 p.m. email blast to its campus community.

Florida SouthWestern College is also allowing all classes and campus activity to proceed as normal today, and will announce any developments on its FSW Alert system as they occur.

At Hodges University in Fort Myers, classes continue as normal Monday, but a decision has already been made to close down campus for Tuesday and Wednesday. University officials expect to re-open on Thursday. Online classes will continue as planned.

The latest developments around Hurricane Ian are being reported by Florida Politics statewide.