Across the board, K12 public schools are just about at the halfway mark of the fall semester. From what we hear—especially based on our conversations with leaders at the District Administration Leadership Institute’s Superintendents Summit in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, this month—the school year is off to a promising start. We were told students and educators alike are excited to be back.
But recent headlines suggest that school districts across the country are having shared experiences, or what we call “mid-semester headaches.” Here’s how leaders are dealing with these issues.
Persistent bus driver shortages
Transportation issues have yet to rebound in many districts across the U.S. Like many teachers, school bus drivers are dwindling in numbers over concerns about the quality of the job, including pay. As a result, leaders are taking matters into their own hands to ensure students make it to and from school on time.
At Boone County Schools in Kentucky, principals are doubling as bus drivers to help alleviate the district’s ongoing hiring pressures.
“I enjoy it,” Larry A. Ryle High School Principal Matt Shafer told WCPO 9 News after driving the bus for four weeks every morning and afternoon.
“I kept saying, ‘Guys, I’m finishing up to drive a bus. I’m finishing up to drive a bus.’ And I don’t think they believed me, until they did. It took probably about a week for all the students to realize that I was also the principal,” he said. “It was eye-opening for most of our students.”
DeKalb County Schools in Georgia are also facing similar issues, so they’re encouraging teachers to consider driving buses before and after school to help out, Atlanta News First reports.
Exavier Frazier, an administrator for the Stone Mill Elementary media center, is one of those who heeded the call to respond.
“They gave us the opportunity and I said, ‘Why not?’ I had to do it,” he told Atlanta News First.
In Wisconsin, the challenges within the Madison Metropolitan School District are reflective of those seen across the country as schools struggle to get students to school and back home on time.
“It’s a frustration,” former MMSD bus driver Adam Milkowski told The Cap Times. Milkowski drove a school bus for Badger Bus last year but was unable to return due to another transportation company, First Student, snatching a contract with the district last spring.
“I got to know the kids, got to be a friendly face and I knew that I’m bringing the next generation around, making sure they get to school safe and everything,” he told The Cap Times. “It was an absolute blast.”
Instead, he’s using his commercial license to work for a limousine company, which offers more flexible hours. It’s a transition many former drivers have made since the pandemic due to a number of reasons, with compensation and retirees being some of the most dominant factors.
Student enrollment
In Florida, Miami-Dade County Public Schools saw an explosive bump of 2,000 in student enrollment this year, according to CBS News Miami. However, that wasn’t the case for Broward County Public Schools.
“We went down by approximately 3,200 students,” Superintendent Peter Licata told CBS News Miami. He notes that the cost of living is sending families elsewhere.
“We’re seeing a trend, especially in Broward County, where families are moving out to less expensive areas in the state,” he said. “Broward County has no room for growth. They’re not constructing new developments; they’re building high-rises.”
Fortunately, they’ve accounted for the loss in the budget to avoid layoffs.
“We have an adequate number of teachers, and we only have a few openings left,” Licata said.
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The Salt Lake City School District is experiencing similar issues as student enrollment fell again this school year, a trend that’s proven difficult for the district for nearly a decade, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
For the 2023-24 school year, the district has tracked a loss of nearly 500 students, or 2.5%. As a result, Chief Information Offer Sam Quantz told board members this week that some changes may be necessary, including potential closures.
Five schools in the district are currently being studied for potential closure as they’ve all declined in enrollment by at least 10%, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
‘Swatting’
It’s been a scary week for schools in New York, according to local reports. On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that more than 10 school districts across the state received swatting threats or hoax emergency calls, New York Daily News reports.
According to a statement from the governor’s office, the threats targeted schools in Western New York, the Capital Region, Central New York, Long Island, the Southern Tier and the North Country.
“I wasn’t able to reassure parents that their children are safe at school—swatting threats are false and intended to cause panic and scare students, teacher and families,” Hochul said in a statement.
The Harrisburg City School District in Pennsylvania reported receiving a bomb threat this week as well, which was later determined to be swatting.
According to CBS 21 News, two separate elementary schools received anonymous phone calls that issued the threat, prompting an evacuation at both sites.
“Schools nationwide have been hit with threats like this in recent weeks,” Superintendent Eric Turman wrote in a letter to families. “They are known to law enforcement as ‘swatting’ incidents, designed to disrupt schools and organizations.”
