Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The countdown is on and there's just one week to go before school starts in Western New York.
Some districts are getting ready to welcome students back, but some are scrambling to find bus drivers to bring students to and from school.
All districts will require everyone to wear masks and have social distancing. "Wearing masks, three feet of distancing between students and six feet of distancing between students and teachers at all times to keep people safe," says Sweet Home superintendent Mike Ginestre. "Our entire K-12 population will be in class for five day a week in person instruction, which we're super excited about."
Ginestre says new teachers had a new teacher orientation Monday. "We're planning on our professional development day (next) Tuesday, and we welcome our students on Wednesday, and we're excited to bring them back," says Ginestre.
Ginestre says he's constantly monitoring the numbers and keeping in touch with the county to hear about additional guidance. "We've learned over the past 18 months things can change at a moment's notice, and we'll be ready for any scenario thrown our way," says Ginestre.
Ginestre says the district is at the level needed for school bus drivers, but "our sub list is low, so we're always looking for school bus drivers, and if all things stay the same, we should be ok."
The same can't be said in Niagara Falls. "We along with many other districts are struggling with bus drivers. Our contract provider continues to look to hire more, so this week is dedicated to open houses, orientations, and making sure we have a good solid handle on transportation," says Superintendent Mark Laurrie. "I think it's a profession that has an inherent problem with a split schedule, so there aren't a lot of people who want to work that shift. What it does is it attracts older people concerned about COVID. You put 44 kids on the bus and that exacerbates the problem." Laurrie says the bus company has raised the pay rate and the routes have been shortened to help make that attractive.
Laurrie says students will have new grade configurations at three of its schools. "We've got a growing Ptech program of industrial manufacturing in our middle school. Every student will have a laptop," with 7th through 12th graders getting brand new laptops.
Hamburg superintendent Michael Cornell says the first day of school will be an exciting day all around. "We are all in for 180 days," says Cornell, who notes there have not been 180 days of in person learning for an entire school year since 2018-19.
Cornell says preparations have been going on for the past few weeks and months. "We're ready to go. It's not anything other than the final touches we would put on for the start of the school year," says Cornell.
"We've learned anything can change," says Cornell. "If you asked me on September 8, 2019 what will change I would have said nothing. Our job in schools is to be ready for everything and I think schools and children and families have proven to adapt to anything that comes our way."
Cornell says the district is in good shape with regard to bus drivers. "In Hamburg, we have a private bus company that's fully staffed," says Cornell.
The school year starts September 8.
