Buses Are Rolling

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Steven D. Girardi

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 08:17 AM

CLEARWATER - Even before the sun rose, groggy teenagers were making their way to school buses and cars as Pinellas County public schools – and many private schools – began classes this morning.

The opening of the 2008-09 school year comes one day late, courtesy of Tropical Storm Fay,  which forced the county to postpone the scheduled start on Tuesday.

During the course of the morning, about 700 school buses will hit the streets, picking up about 46,000 of the nearly 105,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12 who will attend public schools, district officials said.

The school district expects to serve about 15,500 breakfasts and nearly 50,000 lunches before the day is finished.

And in addition to the students, about 15,500 employees are expected at work in the schools and other district offices and facilities.

---

Finally, Pinellas Starts Classes

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Dennis Joyce

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 07:42 AM

One day delayed by the approach of Tropical Storm Fay, students and teachers start the new school year today in Pinellas County.

---

Fewer Students Show Up For 1st Day; Fay May Be To Blame

Posted Aug 18, 2008 by Marilyn Brown

Updated Aug 18, 2008 at 06:49 PM

Hillsborough County schools counted 1,428 fewer students today than the first day last year, a sign that parents may have kept students home because of the impending storm.

Hillsborough schools will be closed Tuesday.

Noticeably absent were kindergarten students, with about 2,000 fewer than the 13,875 expected, said Cindy Wood, the district’s director of planning and related services.

“Mommies didn’t send their babies to school because the hurricane was coming,” Wood said. Kindergarten enrollment has been low all summer, however, so it’s hard to predict what the final figure will be,

Figures on the 20th day of school will show how much the economy is influencing families to leave the area. Hillsborough grew to become the eighth largest district in the nation with years of rampant growth, adding between 5,000 and 7,450 additional students a year.

That growth slowed to 1,164 additional students in 2006-07, then reversed in 2007-08 to a loss of 442 students.

No one was predicting today whether the loss will continue. The district projects 191,583 students by the 20th day, just 240 students more than last year’s count.

With at least Tuesday off for the storm, the district won’t count students again until Friday, Wood said.

---

Opening New School Requires Open Mind

Posted Aug 18, 2008 by Courtney Pastor

Updated Aug 18, 2008 at 11:50 AM

Valerie White opened her second first school today.

An eighth-grade reading teacher at Smith, White also worked for Davidsen Middle when it opened in 2000. What she learned is that every school and every opening is different.

Davidsen had all of its furniture and all of its contractors gone when teachers arrived. Work was still being done on Smith when teachers got there last week. By the time the doors opened to students this morning, rooms were ready and landscaping complete, although the media center was awaiting books and construction was underway on Citrus Pointe Drive.

“Opening up a new school, you have to have an open mind,” White said.

She was ready for a change and liked the chance to work with Smith’s principal, Kathy Flanagan. She also knew she would come into the school familiar with some of the students. Students from Davidsen got reassigned to Smith when the district drew boundaries last spring.

White waited in the hall around 9 a.m. as students rushed into their homerooms.

“Hi Ms. White,” one boy called as he hurried past.

---

Circle of Congestion At Smith Middle

Posted Aug 18, 2008 by Courtney Pastor

Updated Aug 18, 2008 at 12:19 PM

Students rush up a staircase at Sergeant Paul R. Smith Middle School, a brand-new school in Hillsborough County. (Tribune photo by CANDACE C. MUNDY)

Construction, bus confusion and an unfamiliar school combined for transportation headaches this morning at Smith Middle School.

The plan was for buses to enter a circle at the back of Smith and for parents to turn into the main entrance, which would swing them past the main office. Cars then would wind through the rear of Citrus Park Elementary’s parking lot, which abuts Smith Middle.

Although the elementary and middle schools sit side by side, traffic problems should be minimal on a normal day. Citrus Park starts about an hour before Smith. The schools’ principals work together on scheduling to make sure they do not plan evening events on the same day.

But the main entrance to Smith remained blocked by construction vehicles when the Smith doors opened this morning. Citrus Pointe Drive is torn up while the road is being expanded. The entry into the main building is unfinished.

Parents were supposed to turn into Citrus Park Elementary’s lot instead to drop off their children, but many got confused and drove into the bus circle. Teachers stood in the circle and tried to tell them where they should have gone.

Principal Kathy Flanagan said while she didn’t want families to use the bus circle regularly, she understood why they did it. Eventually the main entrance will be completed, and a canopy will cover the path to the building. She expected there to be a learning curve today.

“I wasn’t turning anyone away today,” Flanagan said.

Miscommunication from the school district about bus stops and bus routes further complicated the first day transportation.

The district is revamping its transportation system to make it more efficient and has moved some bus stops and eliminated others. But many parents complained they never received information about the changes, flooding the district transportation office with phone calls.

The district finally got the bus information to individual schools, and Smith staff worked with parents this morning to figure out where their students would get picked up and dropped off.

A mother arrived at the office with a group of students from her neighborhood after seeing them standing there long after the bus was supposed to come.

Parents were frustrated, Flanagan said, which she understood, but they did not take it out on the school.

“Parents are very, very supportive,” Flanagan said.

---