Expanded Opportunities Await Broward Students On First Day Of School

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POMPANO BEACH (CBSMiami) - The first day of school for thousands of students in Broward began even before their first class.

About 72-thousand students boarded Broward's fleet of school buses to begin their first day of the new year. Broward's bus fleet, which runs more than a thousand routes daily, is one of the largest in the country.

Many of the drivers practiced their routes before the start of the school year to get familiar with their routes. All of the buses are equipped with GPS so the school district will know where they are at all times.

Howard Piggott, who has been a driver for three years, says this is his passion, he worries about the kids and makes them is a top priority. He said he and his fellow drivers personally inspect their buses before heading out.

"It's very important that we do not miss a single thing here. If the lug nuts are not tightened the wheels can run off. If the gate is not working when I open it, the kids will probably walk right across (the road) chasing after a ball or something. So it's very important, safety is the number one issue for us, especially for me, I do have grandkids," he said.

After being dropped off at school, some students were nervous with anticipation about what the new school year would bring.

"I'm scared because there's just a lot of things running through my mind, but this was a great school, I like it to be honest, and I'm just ready to learn something new this year," said Crystal Lake 8th grader Parris Jones.

As parents hugged their kids goodbye sending them off for the day, some questioned why the usual gate at Crystal Lake didn't open up at 7 a.m. as it had done in the past.

"I go to work so I'm not supposed to drop outside the school, I want to drop inside the school," said one parent.

The changing of times for opening the security gate was one of the new security measures implemented at the school. The gate now opens at 8:30 a.m..

"That is a big deal because we used to open the gates at seven o'clock and we've had kids here as early as 7:15 a.m. being dropped off, so that's the biggest difference for kids is that we can't do that anymore," said Crystal Lake Principal Sabine Phillips.

Security changes aren't the only ones coming to the district this year. A number of programs have been expanded.

This year, the school district is expanding debate in schools, 30 more schools will have debate programs. They're also increasing the number of unique educational programs including the FBI cyber program at Cypress Bay High School.

Four more schools will be offering dual language programs and there will be in an increase in computer science and STEM opportunities.

Students will also have more chances to become environmental stewards in conjunction with the county, Friends of State Parks, The Everglades Foundation, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Broward is the sixth largest school district in the nation with more than 271-thousand students.