What is so routine, almost cliché about the start of school, from changing classes to navigating the building, feels foreign nowadays.
Over the past few years, back-to-school has been an exercise in masks and social distancing. Finally, it seems, it’s just about finding the way to math class.
At Reed Middle School in Duncanville, Principal Bryan Byrd said it’s not just the students who have needed help navigating the building this year.
"Lots of new teachers coming on board, they’ve been phenomenal," said Byrd. "From last week getting to know our culture to today."
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Duncanville ISD, like almost every district across the area, has struggled to find teachers.
"We had 170 vacancies with six weeks to go, that’s more than double than we have in a normal school year," said Dr. Marc Smith, Duncanville ISD superintendent.
Smith added that today, day one, the district's goal was to make sure there was not just an adult standing before all students but someone who wanted to be there.
CARTER IN THE CLASSROOM
"We have substitute teachers in regular classrooms and these subs are working on their credentials for certification. It’s not ideal but it’s our situation and we’re having to make the best of it," said Smith.
While this year may be starting with fewer masks and jugs of hand sanitizer, the lingering impact of the pandemic is heavy.
"We saw a good bounce in a positive direction with our reading scores," Smith added. "Math- still a way to go still a lot of gaps to close."
While the district is excited to usher students back to the classroom, officials are putting more focus than ever before on making sure students and teachers are secure while they’re in the building.
"We’ve taken time this summer to see where are we strong, where are we vulnerable, what do we need to do to shore up our campuses from a physical staff from a training standpoint so we know what to do when to do it so everyone is on the same sheet of music," he said.
Smith said all schools in his district have controlled access and that there is extra attention placed on making sure all security cameras and features are working.
"We had a really large police presence today and we’ve worked on that to increase that presence," he added.
Not far away in Arlington ISD, the district unveiled a new communication plan for how to handle security issues on campus. The district said it reviewed everything and is confident and prepared but wanted to make sure parents and students understood too.
They wanted their community to have clear instructions on what’s expected of them if something were to arise on campus.
"The things we’ve practiced and practiced we revisit every year, as you know, school safety is everyone’s commitment," said Marcelo Cavazos, Superintendent, Arlington ISD.
Dallas ISD unveiled their plan last week and talked about active shooter training police were taking part in. Officials have put metal detectors in all middle and high schools.
Overall, school leaders across North Texas who spoke about security said it is vital in making sure the process and training are not too traumatic for their students
"We have these drills and these things cause anxiety and we know that we know it causes concern, but we also want people to be prepared," said Cavazos. "If you think of a new school year with the new staff they have to be habit forming with the new protocols."
