Approximately 40,202 students returned to schools across Marion County on Monday, representing an attendance rate of about 88% of the 45,873 students who were anticipated to return.
Despite the hiccups and issues on the first day of classes, overall, MCPS Director of Public Relations Kevin Christian said that dozens of things “went right,” highlighting the efforts of principals, teachers, bus drivers, and cafeteria staff during the day.
Approximately 21,000 of the students who attended classes on Monday rode over 250 buses. Cumulatively, bus drivers across Marion County cover over 31,800 miles every day. Approximately 934 calls were received by the Transportation Hotline, which is used to report transportation problems. That was “significantly lower than in past years,” according to a statement from the district.
Over 3,500 teachers, principals, and other support staff worked with students on Monday, including 274 new teachers, according to the district. As of Monday evening, the county still has “83 teaching positions open.”
According to MCPS, custodians and maintenance workers spent the Summer “renovating buildings, reworking cafeterias, putting down new carpet, pulling up old floor wax, maxing sure windows were fixed, roofs were repaired, 3,800+ air conditioners were working properly, floors were swept, and, in general, getting schools ready for staff and students.”
The district also reports that tens of thousands of free lunches were doled out to children across the county. As in years past, at least 54 schools in Marion County are offering free meals throughout the year.
“Our cafeteria workers served 10,855 breakfasts and 28,998 lunches in our school cafeterias, surpassing last year’s opening day by nearly 6%,” reads the statement.
According to MCPS, there are 21,921 elementary, 10,305 middle, and 13,647 high school students enrolled in local schools this year.
Most of the schools across the district will have different start and stop times this year, as bell times have been adjusted to “foster more on-time arrivals for school buses,” according to the district.
“This is a wonderful community in which we live, and despite what school grades are, what Tallahassee says, and what happens in the world around us, we have great schools, great teachers, and great students! Are there problems? Absolutely. Are they insurmountable? Absolutely not! (Though some are tougher to solve than others.) The main thing we must do is keep our eyes on the target, and for MCPS this means always doing what is right — for students. Every minute of learning matters now more than ever,” reads the press release from Christian.
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