Bay school superintendent talks safety, technology and staffing
PANAMA CITY — Almost 26,000 Bay County students returned to their classrooms bright and early on Wednesday morning.
As children started their first assignments and got to know their teachers, Bay District Schools officials attended multiple schools to check in and partake in the excitement of the first day.
Superintendent Bill Husfelt stopped by Southport Elementary to discuss his top priorities for the new school year: school safety, new technology and staffing concerns.
Officials have been preparing all summer for the school year, with Husfelt saying he's immensely proud of everyone for how much work they put in.
It's gameday:What parents should know about the first day of school in Bay County
'Take care of the whole child': BDS officials talk school safety after DeSantis signs HB 1421
"The schools are just immaculate. There's been so much work every year to get ready for schools and it's a team effort," Husfelt said. "It's just not one person, it's a team so I'm just so proud of our schools and leadership and everybody doing everything that's needed to make sure kids have a great first day."
School safety
Going into the new year, Husfelt said one of main priorities was increasing school safety.
In the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting on May 24, BDS officials have amped up security measures by adding more armed security, lock systems and cameras on campuses.
"We inspect our schools. We have surprise inspections to make sure that all the gates are locked, the classroom doors are locked," Husfelt said. "We have a great partnership with Sheriff Tommy Ford and his team. We tried to do everything to have no stone unturned to make sure that our campuses are safe and secure."
BDS officials held a press conference on June 8 to discuss their school safety plans after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1421, which aims to improve school safety and implement the recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.
Other safety measures include two major programs with the Bay County Sheriff's Office: 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 phones to alert law enforcement directly if an active shooter situation were to occur.
The Guardian Program allows certain teachers, staff and administrators to do the same active shooter training as law enforcement and carry guns on campus after completing six weeks of vigorous training during the summer.
New computers, smart boards
Another top priority is improving technology in schools, with the upgrades starting almost two years ago. Husfelt said the district is "very close" to having new computers and smart boards in all schools.
High schools and middle schools are getting new computers, with elementary schools getting the middle schools' best computers and new computers. Classrooms also will be getting interactive smartboard technology, which allows images from a computer screen to be displayed onto a classroom board using a digital projector.
The technology refresh has been a major success with a lot teachers seeing improvement in their lessons and students gravitating to the new format, Husfelt said.
"What's so neat, I remember when teachers told me they didn't want computers, they just wanted typewriters. And now I think if I tried to take their smartboard technology ... they would try to beat me up," Husfelt joked. "They depend on it."
Staffing shortages and COVID concerns
With staffing shortages affecting school districts across the nation, Husfelt said it's been especially tough hiring teachers as Bay County experiences a major population growth.
"We seriously have a teacher shortage, so we need to hire more teachers and the growth is not going to go away," Husfelt.
Numbers for support personnel, however, are up since Hurricane Michael.
Husfelt also addressed COVID concerns going into the new year, saying the district is following the recommendations of the Bay County Health Department. As for the monkey pox virus, he added it's not a concern right now.
Long way since Hurricane Michael
BAs for his own hopes for the school year, Husfelt said, while knocking on a wooden table, he's ready to finally start a normal year after a hectic four years.
Students of Bay County have had a difficult four years with Hurricane Michael and the pandemic affecting their academic and personal lives. Husfelt said everyone deserves a big pat on the back for overcoming so much.
"I'm just proud of how far we've come and sometimes you focus on where you want to get so much that you forget how far you have come," Husfelt said. "I think we don't celebrate enough just exactly how far we have come ... we have come a huge distance from where we were in October 2018."
Gloss