ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – With students heading back to school Monday in Orange County, the district is also facing some challenges to start the new school year.
During a news conference on Friday, Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez said the district has been working with contractors to finalize inspections at Howard Middle School and Luminary Middle School.
Both campuses have faced delays in construction or renovation and, as of Friday morning, did not have certificates of occupancy.
“It isn’t always easy to get schools ready for staff and for students,” Vazquez said. “We are landing on the students not starting school on Monday if we’re not able to receive the certificate of occupancy.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Vazquez said inspectors have been on the site of each school this week and the district has been communicating daily updates with parents.
“We’ve never had it cut this close, ever,” Vazquez said. “I want to know what is it that we could have done differently where we do hold our contractors accountable.”
Another concern for the district has been a shortage of bus drivers. With a need of roughly 100 more drivers, OCPS said current drivers would make double runs.
“Please be patient with us and as we find who’s actually riding, we’ll be able to consolidate some of those runs,” Transportation Director Bill Wen said.
With recent changes in state law, the district has also adopted new security and safety procedures.
The measures include:
- Not leaving doors propped or standing open in classrooms.
- All perimeter gates must be closed and locked while students are present on campus.
- All visitors must have an ID present at all times.
- All outside persons, including law enforcement, who are not on campus for work-related issues must check in at the front desk.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: