CENTRAL FLORIDA — The rest of Central Florida will be returning to school, but this is not a normal school year, as some districts see an increase of security, while others need crossing guards and there is a demand for bus drivers.

Orange County still needs school crossing guards

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The start of school in Orange County comes as the Sheriff's Office tries to fill a dozen school guard crossing jobs.

"It's always challenging to fill a position that only has an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon because it breaks up the day," said Bertis Negron, the school crossing guard coordinator with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Crossing guards are an important part of back to school as drivers are reminded there will be more students walking to class starting Monday.

"Drivers are not paying attention, they're on their phones," said Negron.

Negron is tasked with training and making sure there is a crossing guard at 458 locations across the county.

To entice people, the Sheriff's Office has bumped up the pay for crossing guards this school year. It is now $13 an hour.

James Steele is semi-retired and is one of the newest crossing guard recruits.

"When I told my kids, they actually both laughed, but in reality it's a great community service. It's a little extra cash for myself and I'm looking forward to it," he said.

When they do not have enough crossing guards, the Sheriff's Office has to divert resources and put a deputy at a school crossing.

If anyone is interested in becoming a crossing guard, click here.

— Jerry Hume


Marion County sees increase of school resource officers

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — More than 2,100 students will be heading to Forest High School in Ocala, but that means more safety and the need for more security.  

District wide, there will be additional fencing and more cameras, but at Forest High School, it will have an additional school resource officer (SRO).

Forest High School is one of five Marion County high schools that will have two SROs on campus because of higher enrollment numbers.  

There is a total of 56 SROs this year and about 30 armed guardians.  

Forest High School also has a new principal and she wants parents to know that school safety is her first priority.  

"Marion County Public Schools is proactive about school safety here at the school level. We are forming a school safety committee that will be formed pretty quickly and that will include not only students and staff, but also community members and parents that are interested in being involved with that school safety committee," said Elizabeth Brown.

Also new at the high school this year is a room called "The Rock."

On April 20, 2018, officials say a former student, Skye Bouche, allegedly shot a round from a sawed-off shotgun through a classroom door, injuring a student.  

That room has been transformed into "The Rock," a positive space where students can take anything they need like school supplies, food or clothing or can just come in and talk to a certified mentor.  

Along with the n​ew SRO, this year Forest High School started a new program for incoming freshman.  

A total of 80 students were selected to be part of the CAT crew and those older students were paired up with about 500 freshman last week for orientation.  

Those students will be supporting those freshman students beyond the one-day orientation.  

"They're going to be devoting the entire year. We're going to have things like freshman activities where they all attend a basketball game, they attend a volleyball game, a football game, try to hype that up do things like ice cream socials. But they're also in there helping them study; someone there to help scaffold when they need help, someone to look out for," said teacher John Crawford.

There will also be a "We Dine Together" day where the CAT crew will search out for students during lunch by themselves and strike up a conversation with them.

— Sarah Panko


Osceola County now has enough bus drivers for school year

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County school buses have had significant delays when it comes to picking up and dropping off students in the past.

However, this year the administration expects things to be different.

Last school year Osceola County did not have enough bus drivers enrolled in the system, but things are expected to now run smoothly, as the district has met its requirement with more than 400 bus drivers.

Shawn Tucker, the director of Transportation at the School District of Osceola County says a shortage in bus drivers earlier this year put the district behind when it came to picking up and dropping off kids.

However, he says he is happy to report the district has enough drivers to cover all the routes.

"We were so short of drivers that anybody that was in our department that had a license to drive, we asked them to drive. As well as our drivers out in the road already. Picking up the stops that was still needed to be picked up. So, we were in a crunch last year. So we're excited this year to have a lot more drivers than we ended up with," said Tucker, who is also a bus driver.

The school district offered an increase in pay and other incentives to meet the quota.

Tucker says a growing population caused the demand for more drivers. Especially the increase of students coming from Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria.

Yvonne Brown came back after hearing about the bus driver shortage. This school year, she says her priority is safety.

"I want to be able to take the children from their bus stops to and home safely," she said.

For anyone interested becoming a bus driver, there will be a job fair on Thursday, Aug. 23, at the transportation facility on Simpson Road.

Or click here for more information.

— Stephanie Bechara