By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
UPDATE: As of 10 p.m., most of the 850 students who were stranded by Tuesday’s storm had been picked up by parents. Only 235 students remain and district officials are preparing to house them overnight, if needed, said Susan Ard, spokesperson for Cleveland ISD.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Tuesday afternoon’s storm that passed through Southeast Texas, dropping several inches of rain, made it impossible for 800-850 Cleveland ISD students to be returned to their homes due to high water, district officials say.
“The students are being kept at Southside Elementary. We are working with parents to get them picked up. We are feeding them and keeping them safe,” said Susan Ard, spokesperson for Cleveland ISD, in a statement around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
District officials plan to meet at 8 p.m. to determine what they will need to do in the event that the children cannot be picked up due to impassable roads and rising water.
Ard said that one school bus in Plum Grove became stuck while transporting children to their homes. The children had to be loaded onto another bus, which delayed all the children in reaching their destinations.
“We have eight kids en route to Southside from the Plum Grove area. We weren’t able to get them home because the bus couldn’t get past the water,” Ard said.
