Orange, Flagler, Lake, Osceola, and Volusia counties headed back to school Monday. See our back-to-school section for resources for students and parents.
Orange County
Orange County, the tenth largest district in the country and the fourth largest in Florida, is expecting about 5,300 extra students this year bringing the district total estimate to around 199,598.
Something new this year: the opening of Independence Elementary School in the Winter Garden area. It was built to relieve crowding at Keene’s Crossing and Sunset Elementary.
“The new school is terrific. It’s beautiful inside and out. The district has worked really, really hard to make sure that everything was done to perfection,” said Independence Elementary School’s Principal, Angela Osborne.
Another big thing this year: Nine more schools will be joining the digital pilot program.
Seven high schools and two middle schools will now have more of their curriculum go digital.
That means for more than 30,000 students, the year will include a new take-home laptop or electronic device.
Parents got to check it out last week.
One dad says this’ll be great for education, but remember to care for the new electronics at home.
“Keep a charging station there for it so that when they are coming out of the house to head for school, there’s not a lot of time looking for it or if it’s charged so when they get to school they’re prepared to go and rock and roll,” said Arthur Johnson.
News 13 crews were at the bus depot on Hanging Moss Road early Monday morning as bus drivers prepared for their routes. Drivers say to be extra careful traveling on Orange County roadways as more students, parents, and teachers will be on the roads, heading back to class.
Volusia County
School bus drivers were revved up at the break of dawn ready to go on the first day of school in Volusia County making their final checks before picking up students.
But they did not have to transport as many students this year as in years past. That because only freshman attended Deltona High school on the first day.
It’s part of a pilot program aimed at helping freshmen transition from middle school to high school without the chaos of so many students in the hallways.
Deltona is the only high school participating in the program.
“I would imagine that it would make them feel more comfortable that they’re around their classmates only today, not worried about the upper classmen, and you know, all the anxiety that goes with it." said Deltona High School principal, Carolyn Carbonell.
Fewer students led to less chaos in the parking lot as parents dropped off only freshmen scholars
Sophmores, Juniors and Seniors have their first day of school Tuesday.
Lake County
In Lake County students are walking, bussing and driving back to class. And due to a new law that was passed, students who may have had to walk to school in the past, will now get a lift to school.
Last year students who lived two miles or more away from their school would get a bus, meaning those who lived closer, had to walk or find other means for transportation.
But Lake County Schools is taking on the extra cost to provide buses to students who live within one mile of their schools. It’s a move that will cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars and will require more buses. But they say the improved safety for their students is worth the price.
“A lot of our young students were still having difficulty getting to school," said Sherri Owens, Lake County Schools Communications Officer said. "There were still some areas in our community that are rural and don’t have sidewalks and simply weren’t the safest way for students to get there. So they made the decision to extend that bussing to even those that lived within a mile even though we would not be reimbursed for that by the state.”
With these changes comes some new concerns, like whether the district will have enough buses to transport all of these new bus riding students. School officials tell me buses may be very crowded in the beginning, as they have 12 new routes to fill.
They’ve ordered eight new buses, but they aren’t expected to arrive until November.
Lake County School officials tell me they are all ready to go for the first day of school and will have enough buses for students, but they won’t have the normal number of reserve buses handy in case there is a breakdown.
Renovated School
Many students are going back to class in brand new or recently renovated campuses.
Eustis Heights Elementary School started using their new building at the end of the last school year. But now it will really feel like a pack of new pencils as the kids head back to class in a state-of-the-art school.
What was once a campus of small aging buildings constructed in the 1950s, is now a modern facility with 21 new classrooms. There are 65-inch flat touch-screen TVs for use during instruction, as well as a new main office, media center and cafeteria.
It took more than 13 million dollars over two years to make this project possible, and the school district isn’t stopping here. They have a number of other projects in the works.
“Definitely talking about improving schools and making renovations to a lot of our older buildings, adding buses," Owens said. "We need to replace some of those, our white fleet, just a lot of the capital improvements – air conditioning, those sorts of things.”
Lake County School officials say the projects are never ending and add that growth is back in the district.
This year there are about 42,000 students enrolled, and of those, about 500 are new to the Lake County School family. So to keep up with the growth and changes, the budget is of great concern.
This November, Lake County voters will be asked to decide on whether to extend the penny sales tax where a third of those tax dollars go to the school district.
Penny Sales Tax
School officials said it's all thanks to the penny sales tax that provides the county with millions of dollars for these improvements.
With a growing district, Lake County will need to fund more bus routes and create more classrooms.
“We do have portables at our schools," Owens said. "Capacity is always a concern with 500 more students coming in. We are definitely keeping an eye on classroom size because we have to make sure that we keep the classes at the sizes the state mandates.”
About 63 percent of those students are eligible to receive free and reduced lunches. So with more mouths to feed and more bus routes to schedule, the district is closely monitoring their budget, and hoping that voters will come out this November to renew the penny sales tax that makes all of these school improvements possible.
Osceola County
This year thousands of students will be eating their school lunches for free at several Osceola County Schools.
It’s all part of the Community Eligibility provision or CEP, where the USDA funds schools to pay for all of their students meals when a majority come from low income families that can’t afford to pay for the meals. This year 30 different schools in Osceola County are ready to feed all of their students for free.
It’s a problem several parents of Central Avenue students face. “It’s a big difference. I don’t have to worry about their breakfast or their lunch.” Maritza Sierra, mother of one student told us.
Central Avenue was the first school to offer free lunch. Last year a record number of students about 4,700 registered as homeless here in the county. So now 25 other schools will be offering free meals. Which is something lunch ladies like Dee Palmer, who’s been a part of the program since the beginning says will make a huge difference at these schools.
“They don’t ever have to worry about their tray being taken away from them because they didn’t have money.” Dee Palmer, the Central Avenue Café Manager explained.
Now teachers and Principals told us they know they are going to see a huge difference in their classrooms.
“They aren’t hungry, they aren’t asking the teachers for food or complaining about a tummy ache they are ready to learn.” The Principal at Central Avenue Elementary School, Trenisha Simmons explained.