Bob Foos
Webb City Superintendent Brenten Byrd says the school year has gotten off to a “great start” despite the new cell phone ban and a first-day transportation challenge.
“I’ve been to all of the schools and been told kids are excited – getting into their lessons already,” says Byrd.
He estimates early enrollment will be reported as steady at about 4,600. Until a few years ago, the number grew by 50 to 60 students each year, but as he says, “It’s been flat since the pandemic, and the trend continues.”
No particular reason has been identified as the cause of the static enrollment trend.
It’s normal, though, for one class to surge. For example, the class entering third grade at Mark Twain Elementary has grown by 23 students.
“The transportation department has rocked it,” says Byrd.
They worked all weekend to get organized for Monday, the always-hectic first day of school.
What they didn’t count on was the card system not being activated on day one.
Bus riders from kindergarten to sixth grade get ID cards. They use these cards to check in when boarding the bus and check out when they arrive.
Byrd says the card company didn’t have the system activated yet. So staff had to manually track those bus riders. Having aides on all buses with kindergarteners and first graders on board was a big help.
By Tuesday, the system was working as it’s supposed to.
The cards prevent kids from getting on the wrong bus, and the tracking system gives parents peace of mind by confirming their kids are on the bus. Another advantage, according to Byrd, is that parents can log into the system on their way home to check if the bus is running ahead of schedule, on time, or delayed.
You may not think it from seeing the lines of cars dropping off and picking up students at schools throughout the district, but bus ridership is popular.
According to Josh Flora, associate superintendent for business operations, there are 2,200 students taking the bus. That’s close to half of the total enrollment.
Not using cell phones during the school day hasn’t been a problem, Byrd reports. In fact, during a community meeting Tuesday, he said he was told by a parent that his student had told him not having cell phones is “‘kinda cool. Kids are talking to each other.’”
“That’s the goal,” Byrd says, “to focus on sociability and learning.”
