TAMPA, Fla. — Teachers across the Tampa Bay area are getting up and heading into classrooms this week to get ready for the first day of school on Monday.
At the same time, district leaders in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties have been working to fill those last-minute vacancies to make sure they have qualified teachers ready to teach your kids.
Hillsborough County Superintendent Van Ayres gave an update on where the district stands with teachers.
"We have 250 school sites," he said. "So we're talking an average of two per school. We are able to manage that. It's about what we're going to have to do, is just increase some class sizes to make sure we have a highly qualified teacher in front of every one of our students, but our schools are prepared and ready to go for that."
As far as bus drivers, Ayres says they need about 120, but it's much better than last year when they needed double that many.
In Pinellas County, Superintendent Kevin Hendrick says he is excited to build on the momentum of getting a district-wide 'A' grade this past year. He says they are also looking good on staffing.
"We're ready," he said. "We have 6,200 teachers, only about 60 vacancies in the district right now and we'll have those fully staffed by the time school starts. And our students are excited to be back, see their friends, see their teachers and kick off a great school year."
He says the transportation department is fully staffed with drivers. They have 300 buses, including 20 new electric buses that will be on the roads this year.
Both superintendents say everyone should give themselves extra time to get where they are going on Monday, Aug. 12 because of the increased traffic on the roads and the students heading to school.