Despite heavy rain and flood warnings across central Ohio on Aug. 20, Columbus City Schools students are headed back to class for the first day of school.
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning
at about 4:45 a.m. Aug. 20 that remains in effect until 7:45 a.m. The warning applies to Columbus, eastern Franklin County, southwest Licking County and northwest Fairfield County.
A number of schools around the region, including Pickerington City Schools and Westerville City Schools, were either canceled or operating under a two-hour delay. However, Columbus Schools confirmed on Facebook that it would be moving forward as planned on Aug. 20 with the first day of school.
The wet weather to kick off the 2026-2027 school year comes after heavy storms already ripped through Columbus on Aug. 11, damaging a number of CCS buildings, but district officials said last week that the start of school would be not be impacted by previous storms.
Cole Behrens covers K-12 education and school districts in central Ohio. Have a tip? Contact Cole at cbehrens@dispatch.com or connect with him on X at @Colebehr_report
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Schools moving forward with first day despite flooding
