The new school year got off to a smooth start in Escambia County, according to School Superintendent Keith Leonard.

“We had, for the most part, a really good first day,” he said.

He said there were expected first-day delays with transportation especially at the elementary level.

“It took a little bit longer, and that’s because we are extra cautious picking up the students and then in the afternoon as we drop them off. So that leads to extended time prior to picking up high school students and then we go to middle school students, so it did take a little bit longer. That’s okay, because the first few days we’re just getting used to routines and procedures. I hope we will improve as we go throughout this first week, and it always has.”

Leonard started visits to schools in the county Monday morning at Bratt Elementary before working his way back south.

“On a positive note, for the seven or eight schools I was able to visit today, I saw excited students happy to be there in their school, whether it be their first day in kindergarten or, in particular when I was able to visit some of our high school students and those students that are seniors. It was their last year in school instead of their first day in school. All in all, we had a good first day.”

The School Year Outlook

“We are looking for our kids to have a good academic experience and then always try to make certain that we’re providing a well-rounded education through extracurricular activities and those electives that we offer at each of our schools,” Leonard said. “We just want to provide opportunities to our students and our families that are beneficial to all our students.”

“That’s really what I get excited about, and we’ll have all types of activities starting up pretty soon whether it be high school football, marching band, volleyball, and all those fall sports we are looking forward to.”

New Statewide Phone Policies

Under a new state law, a total ban has been implemented statewide on cell phone use for elementary and middle school students during school hours, and high school students can only use their phones outside instructional time unless expressly allowed by a teacher.

The superintendent said he did not know of any problems with the new cell phone law on Monday in the district.

“It seemed to be okay. Today, I didn’t get any phone calls related to the new cell phone law,” Leonard said. “The first day went pretty good.”

NorthEscambia.com/courtesy photos, click to enlarge.