The storm on Monday, Dec. 18 caused power outages in six of Portland's public schools. Read a message from Superintendent Ryan Scallon on how the district handled the outages and the plan for Tuesday, Dec. 19, if power is not restored by early morning:

Dear Portland Public Schools Families, Staff and Community,

Today was a challenging day as six of our schools experienced extended power outages caused by the storm. My sincere thank you to the staff, students and families who navigated this storm with us.

There have been some questions about the decision to remain open and not send home students when the power went out at the six schools: Lyseth, Ocean Avenue and Cliff Island elementary schools; Moore Middle School; and PATHS and Casco Bay High School. When power went out first at Lyseth and Moore, we consulted with the principals and determined that we could continue to keep students in schools and that it would be safer to have students remain at school than to walk or ride a bus home, where they may find no one home, the power out, etc.

In each subsequent power outage, we took the same actions. While there was no ideal solution, we did feel that remaining at school was safer than any alternative. This is consistent with our safety protocols documented in our comprehensive emergency management plan.

At this time, we remain without power at Lyseth, Moore and Ocean Avenue schools. We are working with the city and CMP to get these sites prioritized, but at this time, we do not have an estimated time for power to be restored.

If any school remains without power tomorrow morning, they will not have school. We will provide an update to any school that remains without power by 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, Dec. 19.

Thank you for your partnership,

Ryan Scallon, Superintendent