Many public school districts cancel school Thursday due to storm

Workers with ServiceMasters Recovery Management sandbag residences at 17th St. and Folsom St. in preparation of a storm in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. The properties in the area were damaged by floods in a relatively light storm last week. less Workers with ServiceMasters Recovery Management sandbag residences at 17th St. and Folsom St. in preparation of a storm in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. The properties in the area were ... more Photo: Tim Hussin / Special To The Chronicle Photo: Tim Hussin / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Many public school districts cancel school Thursday due to storm 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Public schools will be closed in San Francisco, West Contra Costa, Marin County, Berkeley, Oakland and several other districts Thursday because of the big storm expected to push through the Bay Area beginning Wednesday night, district officials said.

Many districts officials were making last-minute decisions to close schools due to a storm authorities predict will be the biggest in five years due to heavy rainfall and powerful winds. Some colleges also announced closures for the day, including City College of San Francisco and College of Marin.

Other districts announcing closed public schools included Hayward, Union City, San Lorenzo, Fremont, Alameda and San Leandro. Many districts in Sonoma County also were closing their doors.

Parents were notified through automatic messaging systems and district web sites Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The strongest winds and rain are expected in the morning, as students are traveling to school.

“I did not arrive at this lightly,” Superintendent Richard Carranza said in a statement. “First and foremost, we don’t want to risk having our students injured or seriously delayed transporting (them) to and from school.”

South San Francisco announced plans to keep schools open, but told parents they could keep children home, with the absences excused.

The closure announcements did not apply to charter schools. Aspire Public Schools, for example, planned to keep their Bay Area sites open Thursday, including those in Oakland.

Weather-related school closures are rare if not unprecedented in many Bay Area districts. The last time San Francisco schools closed unexpectedly was on Sept. 11, 2001.

Students across the Bay Area, who had only heard of such a thing as a snow day, loudly cheered the news as their parents juggled schedules.

“Well, I grew up in Minnesota where we closed schools for minus 20 degrees and zero visibility, so part of me laughs about this,” said Oakland parent Lana Peak Hurteau “But then again I have driven across the Bay Bridge in driving rain and wind and it was terrifying. So I get it.

“It is a hassle to downsize my workload, but my kids have never had this equivalent of a snow day.”

In San Francisco, district officials said that while safety was a big part of the closure, but they were also concerned about inadequate supervision of children if too many staff members were absent. And potential power outages would create a number of problems, including the inability to provide school meals.

Schools should reopen Friday, but district officials said that depends on the storm and whether buildings sustain damages or are flooded.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @jilltucker.