Dayton Public Schools return today along with Centerville, West Carrollton, Brookville, New Lebanon, Bellbrook-Sugarcreek, Greeneview, Cedar Cliff, Greene County Career Center, Tecumseh, Preble Shawnee, Tri-County North, Dayton Christian, Miami Valley School, Dayton Regional STEM School and Fenwick High School.
Lebanon, Kettering, Northmont and Jefferson Twp. were the first local public school districts to welcome students back to classes last week.
There is no uniform approach to K-12 school start dates nationwide. In Indiana, several school districts started classes as early as July 28-29, and the vast majority will have started by this week. In New York state, many schools start Sept. 7-13 and hold classes until June 23-27.
Every few years, an Ohio legislator introduces a bill that would require schools to start after Labor Day and end by Memorial Day. The tourism industry likes those proposals, but they have never become law, as legislators prefer to let schools make local decisions that are best for their community.
Mad River recently moved to a post-Labor Day start and pre-Memorial Day finish by adding 30 minutes to each school day. Superintendent Chad Wyen said the compacted schedule allows more time to adjust to new laws passed in late June, and more time for teacher/staff training. There was also a financial angle.
“Our new teachers do not get paid until Sept. 15 (because) we are on a 24-pay cycle,” Wyen said. That meant (with an August start) they essentially worked a little over a month prior to receiving their first paycheck, creating a hardship for new staff coming into the district.”
More DPS students will be taking the bus this year than previous years, and Dayton police will be monitoring school zones and enhancing traffic enforcement to protect those students trying to get to class.
“As this is the beginning of a new school year there will be many students who are new to buildings and new to different surroundings,” Wright said.
Wednesday will be the busiest back-to-school day in the fall as more than a dozen schools and districts hold their first day of classes.
As students return to the district’s 29 school buildings, Wright and Dayton police Sgt. Gordon Cairns, traffic services unit supervisor, urged motorists to allow more travel time in the mornings and afternoon. They also said to not try to pass a school bus but to stop when it is stopped with its red lights flashing.
Wright said driving cautiously around school zones and bus stops is important not just in the beginning of the school year, but because mornings will become darker as the school year goes on, motorists need to pay attention throughout the academic year.
Cairns said officers will be watching school zones and bus stops to protect children.
“We will be out there giving a higher level of enforcement in the school zone, reminding the motorists they need to watch their speed limits, be aware of the buses who are stopped with their signs, and just overall safety around the schools and around the children,” he said.
Students can become distracted when waiting for and boarding school buses and not looking out for cars, so it’s imperative that drivers be aware of their surroundings at all times.
“We also ask for people to pay attention to the buses,” Cairns said. “If you think a bus is picking up a child or you’re not 100% certain if you should stop or can go, err on the side of safety,” he said.
