SARASOTA, Fla. — The beach may still be calling, but schools in the Tampa Bay area — including Manatee and Sarasota counties — are back in session.
And the hot and humid morning didn't stop the excitement from the first day.
"It was a long summer … we're excited for him. He's starting first grade today." Dennis O'Sullivan said.
O'Sullivan was one of many parents who walked their kids to the first day of school at Southside Elementary in Sarasota.
"Academically, we want to make sure his reading continues to improve," he said. "Most importantly want him to have fun and make some new friends."
For some students, like Kate Landsman's five-year-old son Jake, it was the first day of regular school ever.
"He was excited to pick out between the different color uniform tops and bottoms and shoes, and he was out here playing soccer at eight o'clock, and he's ready to start the day," Landsman said.
Both parents shared how they love the school and its community.
"Makes me feel good as a mom taking my kid to kindergarten for the first time and dropping them off to kind of the big world," she said.
It was also the first day of school for many of the new superintendents in schools districts across Tampa Bay, including Sarasota and Manatee counties.
"The first day of school has been absolutely exciting, enthusiastic, going and meeting with our teachers and our leaders and our parents as they're dropping their students off to school today," Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry O'Connor said.
Manatee County's new superintendent Jason Wysong along with school board members and other administrators, waved school bus drivers off this morning before the sun was even up.
"We want every parent to know that everyone from our leadership team to our bus drivers to our principals and classroom teachers are excited to welcome their students back today," Wysong said.
Both superintendents tell us their districts are dealing with teacher vacancies.
According to the Florida Education Association, Manatee County has 139 teacher vacancies, while Sarasota County has 156.
"Sarasota is not immune to the teacher crisis that we're facing across our nation," O'Connor said.
O'Connor said they are hiring new teachers daily as they work to eliminate the dozens of vacancies.
The full list of teacher vacancies in Florida is below.