PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Wednesday is the first day of school for students in Pinellas County.
The new superintendent, Kevin Hendrick, greeted bus drivers at the 49th Street Bus Compound as they rolled out to pick up students.
“The great thing about being an educator is that every year you get to restart, and today is the first day for our kindergarteners, our 6th graders, 9th graders who are changing schools," said Hendrick.
The district expects about 25,000 students will ride the bus on the first day.
There are 333 bus routes, and all routes this year have a driver.
The district still needs about 30 relief bus drivers and around 70-80 bus assistants.
The bus bulletin notification system will soon be replaced with a new notification system called travel tracker.
The app connects to GPS on the buses and will automatically notify parents if a bus is running late.
As the new superintendent this year, Hendrick said his priorities include building communication and collaboration, improving academic achievement and student experiences, and nurturing strong community partnerships.
“We really want to elevate our expectations for academics, for behavior, or outcomes, for our students, and get to a spot where our community is incredibly proud of the outcomes for every student,” said Hendrick.
There are lots of other new things this school year too.
In terms of safety, the district will have a new tool that consolidates all of its safety and security technology under one platform, called ALERT.
It gives school police, and law enforcement eyes on the scene and real-time remotes access to cameras, electronic door locking systems, and the intercom.
“Just some things in terms of refining drills, refining those safety things in our schools and learning, unfortunately, every time there’s a tragedy. So we’ve read the Uvalde report and the tragedy there and continuing to refine our things. But what we want parents to know is our schools are prepared, they’re safe, and should there be something that happens, we’re ready,” said Hendrick.
Other new things this school year include:
- All students in 1st through 12th grade will receive a free Dell laptop to be used in school and at home.
- The district is expanding the VPK program to 16 more classrooms.
- There’s a new tutoring program to help kindergarten and first graders become strong readers.
- A new science curriculum is being piloted at six middle schools.
- The College & Career Centers will be expanding to all 17 high schools this year to help students navigate college and career preparation.
- In terms of changes to athletics, bowling is now being offered in high schools and flag football in middle schools.
“It’s just so exciting, and as we start the school year, we just want parents to know that we are thrilled to have their children back in our schools,” said Hendrick.
