Thousands of public school students were turned away yesterday when heavy rains and winds prompted the state Department of Education to close more than three dozen schools.

Eighteen of the 38 public school closures yesterday occurred after 7 a.m., when some parents were already dropping off students. And closures went into late morning with the last school to announce a closure at 10:57 a.m.

Sandy Goya, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, acknowledged that many parents had to go back to school to pick up their children when closures were announced after school had started.

"Some of the schools were OK when they started school this morning," Goya said, adding that as the weather changed, they needed to close.

"We try as much as possible to inform the public before 6:30 in the morning, but the weather is unpredictable and we all need to be flexible," Goya said.

At Kailua Elementary, Principal Lanelle Hibbs said the decision to cancel class happened shortly after 7 a.m. when the power went out on campus. Seven students already had been dropped off and were eating breakfast in the cafeteria, she said.

"We started to contact parents to come and pick them up. Those we couldn't get in touch with, we kept them in the office with the staff," Hibbs said.

Meanwhile, the school's custodians and other staff members were turning away parents and students as they arrived, she said.

"The parking lot was flooding by that point," she said.

As of yesterday evening, only two schools were scheduled to close today, Leilehua High School and Wahiawa Middle School.

Any possible decision on other school closures would likely be made early this morning when weather conditions have been assessed and school officials determine that it would be safe to hold instruction.

The decision to close a school hinges on several conditions, including the safety and health of students, Goya said. She said the DOE's procedures allow for decisions to be made on a school-by-school basis.

"During this assessment, principals are asking such questions as, is electricity available? If the electricity goes off, will it come back on and when? Will we be able to provide food service? Are students already on campus?" Goya said.

After an assessment, if a principal believes it may be necessary to close school, contact is made with a complex-area superintendent who will make the final decision and notify Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto.

Goya said the DOE then works with the media to disseminate the information and also posts the closures as they happen on the DOE Web site, http://doe.k12.hi.us.

Circumstances that caused schools to close yesterday included flooding, heavy rains, power outages, road closures and high winds. The rain also prevented required teachers and personnel from getting to campus, Goya said.

At Nanakuli High and Intermediate, 70 percent of the teaching staff were unable to get to campus because of heavy rain or road closures, Goya said.

While it would be quicker to cancel class across the state all at once, Goya said it would be unreasonable considering that not all schools were affected by the weather.

"Many of our schools were able to provide academic instruction and a safe environment for their students during this time," she said.

Yesterday, many schools opened believing conditions were safe enough for students to be on campus. But some situations changed as weather conditions changed, she said.

For instance, the decision to close Castle High School occurred shortly before 10 a.m. after high winds caused a safety concern, said Principal Meredith Maeda. Before that, Maeda said conditions were not bad enough to warrant canceling class.

"When debris starts flying around — one of our signs flew off and missed kids and cars — that was a sign," Maeda said.

Teachers were notified via their classroom phone that class was to be canceled for the day. School staff and teachers then asked students to call their parents and to either arrange to be picked up or arrange to go home on their own, he said.

"We didn't have full attendance because of the weather," Maeda said. "Once we knew they contacted a parent and it was verified, we said it was OK for them to go," he said.

Goya said procedures for dismissing students at an elementary school works differently than those at the high school level. At an elementary school, students are required to be released to an authorized adult, parent or guardian, she said.

"Schools have phone trees and emergency plans at their schools in terms of how to contact various parents," she said.

If a parent can't get back to the school to pick up a child, the student is kept on campus with teachers or other staff, she said.

"We will provide supervision for those students and make sure they are safe and fed until an authorized adult is able to come and get them," she said.