Hurricane Helene Update

Superintendent Dr. Seth Young sent the following message to families and staff on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 regarding school operations following Hurricane Helene:

Anderson One Families,

Anderson School District One along with the other school districts in Anderson County will remain closed through Friday, October 4th.  Students will not be required to complete eLearning assignments from October 1 through October 4.

Due to the damage from Hurricane Helene, several of our schools and a large portion of our community do not have power and several roads remain closed throughout the district. In addition, some of the schools that do have electricity do not have functioning HVAC at this time. Due to the road conditions in our community, we don’t anticipate being able to complete bus routes to and from school safely this week. 

As you know, Monday, October 7th is already scheduled to be a holiday for students and staff in Anderson One, and Tuesday, October 8th is a Professional Development Day for our teachers and staff in Anderson One. Because these days are already on the school calendar, Anderson One students will not return to school until Wednesday, October 9th. 

This will give our staff time to make sure all of our buildings are prepared to safely welcome students back to school. It also provides time for the district’s cafeteria staff to receive food orders so students in all of our schools can get warm meals next week. 

We know many of our families remain without power and have roads blocked close to their homes. At some point today, Anderson County Emergency Management will be launching a website to provide information to families throughout the county on places where they can pick up food and water, report downed trees, or request other support. You can find this information or report any needs at: https://www.emd.andersonsheriff.org/helene

Spearman Elementary School will be open again on Wednesday, October 2nd from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm for families to charge devices. We will also provide a hot lunch for anyone who comes by during this time. 

Lastly, thank you for your flexibility this week!! This has truly been an unprecedented event for our community, and it has been so encouraging to see folks throughout Anderson One supporting one another and helping their neighbors when they see a need. Please feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions or needs. We will do our best to get you in touch with the appropriate person to assist.

Sincerely,

Dr. Seth Young, Superintendent