Nearly 70,000 students are set to head back to classes in Volusia County on Monday morning.
“I’ve had the opportunity of working with staff and really getting to know the community,” said Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin.
The newly-appointed Balgobin sat down with News 6 on Friday.
She said two of her top goals include working to fill the learning gap from the pandemic and also hiring more teachers.
The district has more than 200 instructional vacancies.
“When school starts, every single classroom will have a teacher,” Balgobin said. “If that means we have to look at some district personnel to fill in temporarily until we hire then we’ll do so.”
And district leaders want parents to know that safety is top of mind, particularly amid the concern from many following that deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The district also worked alongside law enforcement to create new emergency action plans.
Also, now each campus has a dispatch radio for direct access to police.
“Every single one of our schools have SRD’s, SRO’s or guardians armed,” Balgobin said.
All teachers also must keep their doors locked.
As far as bus drivers, at last check we’re told there were only a few vacancies for drivers, though all routes will be covered.