Glasses get passes

Schools to let kids view eclipse using protective eyewear.

Palm Beach County students will get a chance to see history being made — as long as they use special glasses.

The district reversed its position Wednesday after receiving complaints about its ban on outdoor viewing of the solar eclipse on Aug. 21.

During the eclipse, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth. The total eclipse path will stretch from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, S.C. In South Florida, the sun will be about 80 percent covered by the moon at about 3 p.m., according to NASA.

The eclipse will last three hours — from about 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. — when Palm Beach County students are in school, being dismissed or at after-school activities.

The eclipse can damage the eyes of people who look at it without special filtering glasses.

Under newly issued rules, students will be able to watch the eclipse if their principal provides American Astronomical Societyapproved glasses.

Superintendent Robert Avossa said he was unaware that some principals had bought the glasses for their students to observe the event, which last occurred in the United States in 1979.

“Principals with glasses will get parental approval for viewing,” Avossa said.

He said glasses cost $6 each and would cost the district $1.2 million if every student in the district’s 180 schools got a pair, money he can’t afford to spend.

Avossa said outdoor activities, such as sports or band practices, will be cancelled or moved indoors until 4:30 p.m. Parents can pick up their children or keep them home from school if they don’t want to risk their child looking up into the sun.

He said the district has not decided yet if it will alter dismissal times or procedures.