Hillsborough County teacher recovering after close call with lightning strike during dismissal

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. - A music teacher at Dorothy C. York Innovation Academy PreK-8 is recovering after a close call with a lightning strike during school dismissal Tuesday afternoon.

The timeline

What we know:

Parents told FOX 13 that school pickup typically starts around 2:45 p.m.

According to FOX 13 meteorologists, there were thunderstorms that had already developed a few miles north of Apollo Beach around that time.

"These would be within the practical ‘danger zone’ for lightning to strike within," our meteorologists added. "Minutes later, storms began building directly over where this incident occurred."

What they're saying:

The district told FOX 13 it started lightly drizzling about 10 minutes into dismissal and that students were kept under a covered area. 

"The first sign of inclement weather was a lightning strike that hit near the front of the school," Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) said in a statement. "The school paused dismissal immediately and brought everybody inside."

This resulted in a 25-minute dismissal delay, HCPS added.

"We are told the teacher did not receive a direct hit but felt what he describes as a shock while holding an umbrella," the school’s statement said. "We are grateful that the teacher is okay and will be returning to school."

HCPS officials also emphasized that every campus across the district maintains specific rainy-day safety procedures tailored to its physical layout. Under district guidelines, dismissal is paused whenever severe weather threatens the area.

Hillsborough County