HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It's the final few days before kids head back to class. On Friday, Hillsborough County school leaders highlighted new initiatives this year and how they plan to handle teacher and bus driver shortages.
Nicolette Barone is a 4th and 5th grade math teacher at Oak Park Elementary and spent her Friday getting her classroom in order for day one.
“There’s nothing quite like it,” said Barone. "A lot of people think it's funny because the students get nervous the night before, and the teachers do as well.”
Hillsborough County School leaders want to see that energy and enthusiasm carry from the first day to the last day of the school year.
Of course, any new year comes with its challenges.
"Coming from a place where we were at the beginning of June, we had over 1,000 teacher vacancies. Our principals have worked extremely hard. We got that number down to 455 now,” said Van Ayres, the Hillsborough County Schools interim superintendent.
Still, Ayres said they’re used to dealing with teacher vacancies over the last few years.
"Really, a district initiative was behind with working with Kelly subs, was with our resident educator program,” said Ayres. “Those are 150 that will come off that 455. These are working to become teachers."
As for getting kids to and from school, Ayres said as of Friday, they have 203 bus driver vacancies.
He reminded parents about the “Here Comes the Bus” app, which gives real-time GPS information on bus arrival times for morning pick up and afternoon drop off.
"I would tell our parents just expect on the first day of school, like any other year, there could be delays, so just bear with us as we get this school year kicked off,” said Ayres.
One resource parents should know about is the launch of a new mental health service for students. Hillsborough County Schools partnered with Hazel Health to offer free virtual services at home and school with parental consent.
Until next week, teachers and school staff are patiently counting down the days to welcome in a new class.
"We are ready to bring students back,” said Barone.
The first day of school for Hillsborough County School students is Thursday, Aug. 10.