Marion County Public Schools have hired over 480 new teachers for tens of thousands of students that will attend the first day of the school year on Monday.
According to a press release issued by the district, approximately 46,195 students are expected to attend the first day of classes on Monday, August 11.
MCPS reports that elementary schools will have a “stagger start,” which means that one-third of students will report on either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. By Thursday, August 14, all kindergarten students are expected to report by class.
“Staggering times like this gives younger students more personal time with their teachers, making the adjustment to school easier,” reads a statement from the district.
To date, MCPS says it has hired 480 new teachers and that another 54 are currently in processing. As of last week, there were still 71 teaching vacancies in the county, which officials described as “far fewer than at this same time in previous years.”
For transportation, approximately 23,000 students will ride 250 buses to and from campus each day. Each day, those buses travel more than 35,763 roundtrip miles. For the year, that equates to approximately 64 million miles. Any parents in need of information on transportation may contact the Marion County Public Schools Transportation Department at 352-671-7050.
This year, the county will continue offering free breakfast and lunch to 56 different schools. The program is provided in partnership with the Community Eligibility Provision initiative and is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
At least ten of the 67 schools in the county will have new principals, including two first-time principals.
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