Students, school board prepare for first day of school in Broward County

Planning ahead is crucial in these times as buses and parent drivers are to fill the streets with traffic for student pickup and dropoff.

Bus drivers were seen getting ready for the routes in the lot as the superintendent of Broward County Public Schools, Dr. Vickie Cartwright, spoke to parents and students, Tuesday morning.

“For every single bus that you see, we have a route,” said Cartwright. “We do have a bus driver on every one of our routes this morning. So, that is a permanent bus driver, rather than substitutes or having to combine bus routes. We are 100% staffed on that.”

The superintendent also added that there is a certified teacher in every core academic classroom for students on this first day of school.

Parents prepared on the eve of the new academic school year as they dropped by South Florida stores for last-minute school supplies and clothes for their kids.

7News spoke to some children who were spotted shopping with their parents.

Kataryna and Aleksander Kijner are starting the fifth grade today and yesterday they shopped for school essentials.

“Five-minute subject books,” said Kataryna. “Papers,” interrupted Aleksander.

“Some uniforms,” Kataryna said as she thought of what else they may need.

“And right now we’re going to get the label for the uniforms,” added Aleksander.

Scott Benrube​ showed off his school shorts for his first day as an eighth grader after shopping and he shared his feelings on summer coming to an end.

“I get to meet new people this year and, but also, I wish it was still longer so I could play more basketball,” said Benrube.

Everyone got ready for a fresh start in their academics; even the superintendent got pumped.

“Tomorrow is the big day and boy, I’m so excited,” said Cartwright.

The Broward Education Foundation and Office Depot teamed up to hand out bookbags and supplies, Monday.

“They selected Markham Elementary School as one of their sites, they’re giving away 570 backpacks today plus a $20 gift card for their parents,” said Cartwright, who attended and spoke at the event.

Office Depot’s “Start Proud” program also raised money to help teachers, like Jaqueline Richards, with supplies.

“I’m going to put everything to good use,” said Richards.

As students shake off that first day of school nervousness, some looked forward to getting good grades and learning new subjects in the new year.