PANAMA CITY — Nearly 26,000 Bay County students brightly returned to their classrooms early Wednesday morning.
As the children started their first assignments and got to know their teachers, Bay District school officials attended multiple schools, checked in and joined in on the excitement of their first day.
Principal Bill Husfelt stopped by Southport Elementary to discuss school safety, new technology and staff issues, which are top priorities for the new school year.
Officials have been preparing for the middle school year over the summer, and Fussfeldt is very proud of how much effort they’ve put in.
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“The school is perfect. Every year so much work is done to prepare for school and it is a team effort,” said Hassfeldt. “This is not one person, it’s a team. I’m proud of our school and our leadership and that we’re doing everything it takes to make sure our kids have a great first day.”
school safety
Going into the new year, Husfeldt said one of his main priorities is to make schools safer.
Following the May 24 shooting in Uvalde, Texas, BDS officials increased security measures on campus by adding armed guards, locking systems, and cameras.
“We inspect schools. We do spot checks to make sure all gates are locked and classroom doors are locked,” said Hassfeldt. “We have a great partnership with Sheriff Tommy Ford and his team. We have tried to do everything we can to make sure the campus is safe and secure.”
After Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1421, which was intended to improve school safety and implement the recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, BDS officials announced that the school will be reopened on June 8. held a press conference to discuss its safety plan.
Other safety measures include the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s two major programs, the School Guard Program and the Guardian Program.
The School Guard Program is an alert system that school administrators and certain teachers have on their mobile phones to alert law enforcement directly in the event of a shooting incident.
The Guardian program requires certain teachers, staff, and administrators to undergo the same active shooter training as law enforcement and carry guns on campus after completing six weeks of vigorous training over the summer. can do.
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new computer, smart board
Another top priority is improving technology in schools, an upgrade that started almost two years ago. Husfelt said the school district is “very close” to introducing new computers and smart boards to all schools.
High and middle schools get new computers, and elementary gets the best middle school computers and new computers. Classrooms will also introduce interactive SmartBoard technology, which allows images of computer screens to be displayed on classroom boards using digital projectors.
According to Husfelt, the technology update has been a huge success, with many teachers seeing improvements in their teaching and students drawn to the new format.
“What a wonderful thing. I remember my teachers saying I didn’t want a computer, I just wanted a typewriter. And now when I try to use their smartboard technology, they use me. I think they’re going to hit me,” Husfelt joked. “They depend on it.”
Staffing shortages and COVID concerns
With shortages affecting school districts across the country, hiring teachers is particularly difficult in Bay County, where the population is growing significantly, Husfelt said.
“We are facing a severe shortage of teachers, so we need to hire more teachers and the growth will not slow down,” says Husfelt.
However, the number of support personnel has increased since Hurricane Michael.
Husfelt also addressed COVID concerns heading into the new year and said the school district is following the Bay County Health Department’s recommendations. As for the monkeypox virus, he added, it’s not an issue at this time.
A long way from Hurricane Michael
Knocking on the wooden table after completing his bachelor’s degree on his hopes for the school year, Husfelt said after four hectic years, he was finally ready to begin a normal school year.
Bay County students had a difficult four years as Hurricane Michael and the pandemic affected their academic and personal lives. Husfelt said everyone deserves a big pat on the back for having overcome so much.
“I’m proud of how far we’ve come,” Hassfeldt said. “Sometimes we get so focused on what we want to achieve that we forget how far we’ve come.” “I don’t think we celebrated enough how far we’ve come…we’ve come a long way from where we were in October 2018.”