Philadelphia welcomes back students for 1st day; "most exciting" of the school year
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a big day for students and teachers in Philadelphia. The new academic year gets underway Tuesday.
Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington was up bright and early at the district bus depot in Southwest Philadelphia to see the drivers off on their first routes of the day.
Watlington is also a former school bus driver. He came out to the bus depot to thank the drivers for keeping Philly moving.
Watlington said he's used to being up this early to get in a run on the Schuylkill River Trail or do some CrossFit.
"It's the most exciting day of the school year, the first day is most exciting," Watlington said "The second-most exciting is on graduation day."
Watlington enters his second year heading the district, after weathering challenges including multiple school closures due to damaged asbestos.
"Our operations team has worked around the clock this summer and we are in good shape despite all the challenges," Watlington said. "We were able to get some more air conditioners installed in our schools this summer."
The district is also on schedule with its asbestos inspections.
"And should we find schools that have some asbestos problems this school year, we've worked this summer on a relocation swing space plan, so we hope to move kids more quickly," Watlington said.
Some schools will be dismissing early due to a lack of adequate cooling as a heat wave grips the region.
"We're going to make the most of the time we have with our young people today, we're going to have a great school year," Watlington said. "Hang in there with us."