Students and staff excited for new school year in DeKalb County

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — It’s back to school for tens of thousands of students around metro Atlanta today.

DeKalb County Schools are dealing with staff shortages, including bus drivers and teachers.

Students at Stoneview Elementary in Lithonia were greeted with a party atmosphere at the front entrance to their school Monday morning.

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Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders and mascot Freddie the Falcon were there to pose for photos with students.

Parents were also pleasantly surprised as they walked their children in on the first day.

Some students couldn’t wait for school to start.

“I was excited. I was waiting all summer,” student Zariyah Franklin said.

Other students and some parents were still stuck in summer mode.

“What was on your mind when you got up this morning?” Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes asked one student. “I’m tired,” she answered.

Parent Jazmine Simms got a bit of a late start the first morning.

“This morning was not good because we overslept because it’s the first day of school,” she laughed.

“It’s kind of hard to get out of that summer mode,” Fernandes responded.

“Yeah, but tomorrow is going to be better,” Simms said.

New superintendent Dr. Devon Horton started off his day at 6 am, greeting and thanking bus drivers for taking on extra routes as the district works to fill vacancies.

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Horton said parents don’t have to worry about the teacher shortage.

“We are in a groove. We have our classrooms covered with our substitutes of 1,100. But we also have 350 vacancies,” Horton said. “But what’s really powerful is we have about 300 something staff members that are certified, highly skilled. But they’re going to be filling in those classes.”

Horton also talked about a teacher residency program aimed at getting rid of the teacher shortage.

He also talked about some new academic skills centers where students can get tutored during the school day.

Horton said equity is very important to him and he has put some things in place to make sure he achieves that this year.

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