Lazy summer days marked by sleeping late, lounging by the pool, watching too much TV and reading whatever you want will soon be replaced by school tardy bells, math tests and required reading for around 4,500 local students who are expected back in class Tuesday morning at the start of the 2010-2011 school year.
Superintendent Mike Ballew said he expects things to start smoothly next week with minimal changes from last year. Ballew said summer work on system facilities went well with renovations at Jasper Middle School’s science labs and classrooms now complete. The Jasper Elementary campus also has a new look after renovations to a building set to house the Mountain Education Center and Northstar.
“In addition to these renovations, all of our schools had everything done in the summer like stripping and waxing and getting everything spic and span and ready for school to start,” Ballew said. “Everyone’s looking forward to school starting back – but summers are short.”
This school year, students and parents may notice larger class sizes, partly the result of the state’s financial crisis which led legislators to waive class size restrictions through 2013.
“We tried to stay pretty well where we were last year, but there may be some grades at some schools with more students,” Ballew said.
Elementary aged students make up approximately 2,200 of the county’s students; middle schoolers approximately 1,000. High schoolers add another 1,200 to the student population.
Ballew said some minor changes have been made to bus routes with officials consolidating some routes to cut down on costs. He said parents can pick up bus route lists during open house or they can call the transportation department to inquire about pick up and drop-off times. Parent drop off and pick up areas for students will remain the same at each school, Ballew said.
School start and end times will also remain the same as last year. All elementary schools begin at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.. Jasper Middle starts at 7:55 and ends at 3:20. Pickens Middle runs from 7:55 through 3:15. Pickens High starts at 7:50 and ends at 3:15.
|
|
