Buses are late and some assignments are botched. But most students slip into their desks with few problems.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN and DONNA WINCHESTER
Published August 4, 2004
In a school district the size of Pinellas - with 110,000 students and 14,000 employees spread across more than 160 campuses - the first day of class is a little like a Florida election.
It's never going to be perfect.
On Tuesday, buses arrived late and missed connections with students. Students endured glitches with their school assignments. Long lines of parents and guardians waited hours to register their kids at the last minute or fix problems not of their making.
A small chorus of parents called district offices to complain. Some threatened to sue.
But the vast majority of students found their way to class without incident, and many families celebrated such time-honored mini-dramas as the tearful goodbye.
"Overall, it was a very good opening," said schools superintendent Howard Hinesley, who had his own emotions to deal with. Tuesday was the last "first day" of his 15-year tenure.
"I couldn't help but think about it," the retiring superintendent said. "It's a special place."
Here are some other first-day glimpses across Florida's seventh-largest school district:
* * *
Unfortunately for hundreds of parents and guardians, business was brisk at the district's two Family Education and Information Centers.
The parking lot at the St. Petersburg center, 3420 Eighth Ave. S, was overflowing with cars and people by 9:30 a.m. District employees set up chairs outside the center. Those in line were told to take a number and wait for further instructions.
Center coordinator Sharon McCallister said most of the parents were there for the first time, but many of those in line said school administrators had sent them to the center because they had no record of their children's registration.
Andrea Whitten, who in June received an assignment for her son Zack for Lakewood High, learned when she dropped him off Tuesday morning that he was registered at another school. She found that baffling, since Zack attended freshman orientation at Lakewood last week.
"You would have thought that if there was a discrepancy, they would have found it then," she said.
Hundreds of frustrated parents flowed into the Clearwater center at 1101 Marshall St.
Elaine Mulder's daughter Brooke ended up without a school assignment after attending Tarpon Springs High School last year. When Mulder dropped Brooke off Tuesday morning, the school said her daughter was not in the computer system.
Mulder spent three hours at the center straightening things out and eventually was told her problem was likely caused by an inputting error.
"I follow all the rules and for that to happen, it upset me," Mulder said.
* * *
The next superintendent of Pinellas schools was just another parent when he dropped his two children off at Garrison-Jones Elementary in Dunedin.
Clad in khaki shorts and a black pullover, Clayton Wilcox helped his kids find their classrooms and meet their new teachers. The only problem: the small group of reporters following them around.
"They're with me," Wilcox told an amused school office worker. His wife, Julie, was out of town because of her father's recent death.
If the Wilcox children minded the extra attention, they didn't let on.
Morgann, a third-grader, held her father's hand as they walked toward her new classroom. Wilcox gave her a quick kiss, and she disappeared into the sea of children without saying a word.
Tanner's goodbye was even more low-key. His father left him in a fifth-grade classroom, nixing the kiss.
* * *
Longtime educators Ward and Alison Kennedy had planned for years to become principals, but neither husband nor wife guessed it would happen on the same day.
She is the new principal at Safety Harbor Middle School. He is the new principal at Palm Harbor Middle. Their schools are 10 miles apart on U.S. 19.
He sent her flowers Tuesday. She sent him nothing.
"We'll talk later about that," he quipped.
Both were promoted to principals in the spring - she after 4 1/2 years as assistant principal at Safety Harbor Middle and he after five years as assistant principal at Seminole Middle. They had taken turns getting their master's degrees in educational leadership while raising two daughters.
Two fortuitous retirements cleared the way for their joint opportunity.
Tuesday morning found Alison Kennedy, 54, at the entrance to Safety Harbor Middle amid a crowd of students waiting for administrators to unleash them into the school.
Kennedy eased through the chattering tide of backpacks, new clothes and teased hair, finally making it to the school's main hallway.
The students were soon allowed to pass, and the halls brimmed with nervous energy. Picture an airport with all flights due to leave in 10 minutes.
"Girls, you have one minute left," Alison Kennedy told a trio of pre-adolescents, directing one to throw away her gum. By 9:50 a.m. the halls were quiet. Kennedy and her staff agreed it was a smooth opening.
She and her husband, 47, planned to have a nice dinner out Tuesday night to celebrate.
* * *
As his neighbors slumbered early Tuesday morning, Alberto Sandoval crept from under his covers, ready to start a new season of work.
It was 2:45 a.m.
"I take a long time to get ready," said Sandoval, 39, of Clearwater.
By 4:25 a.m., he was ready to start another school year as a relief bus driver for the Pinellas County school system.
Until the transportation department finds a permanent replacement, Bus 29425 - a 1994 Thomas Built with 183,789 miles under its hood - is all his. So is Route 67, the county's longest bus ride. It starts in Palm Harbor and ends in St. Petersburg.
At 5:01 a.m., he reached the first stop. Baggy-eyed Jeff Brown, 15, a Lakewood High School sophomore, took a seat in the front row. He had been up since 4:20 a.m. and wouldn't reach his school until nearly three hours later.
He perked up as friends clambered in. There were 22 riders in all, five of whom got off at Boca Ciega High about 6:45 a.m. The rest got off at Lakewood.
Sandoval reminded them he wouldn't be there to take them home. His afternoon route was back in Tarpon Springs.
"All right, guys, have a good day," he said. "And remember, 381 is going to take you home."
* * *
Many high school freshman struggled to keep their eyes open Tuesday. Accustomed to a 9:45 a.m. start in middle school, they must now adjust to a countywide high school start time of 7:05 a.m.
Ashley Sullivan stifled yawns in the cafeteria at Dixie Hollins High while she waited for her schedule Tuesday morning. The 14-year-old, who attended Lealman Intermediate School last year, said she got up as soon as her alarm went off at 6 a.m., but it wasn't easy. Over the summer, she had gotten into the habit of sleeping in until 11.
Liana Sottile, another Dixie Hollins freshman, needed two wakeup calls before she could get out of bed. "I'm not a morning person," the 14-year-old said.
* * *
With a "Bye, Mom" and a quick kiss, Marty Gilkes sent his mother, Stacey, out the door of his kindergarten classroom at Shore Acres Elementary School.
"I think it's harder on me than it is on him," Stacey Gilkes said as she stood outside the room with her 12-year-old daughter, Kalyn. "I'll cry on my way home."
She'll have plenty of company. The first day of school is always an occasion for copious tears.
Most of the kids do fine.
"It used to be we had to drag them in," said Shore Acres principal Tim Owens. "Now most of them have gone to preschool. They're ready."
* * *
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, more than 100 people still were waiting for school assignments to be processed at the family center in St. Petersburg.
Germaine McKinney, 40, had arrived about noon when the office was serving No. 80. A worker handed her No. 206.
McKinney's goal was to re-enroll two of her three girls into Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg. They had attended Gibbs, but they lost their seats when they moved to Pasco County to live with their father.
"My girls really wanted to go to school today," she said, "but they had to stay home."
Times staff writers Catherine Shoichet, Tanya Caldwell, Lorri Helfand and Monique Fields contributed to this report.
