More than 57,000 students returned to classrooms in Howard County on Monday, after the school district did a lot of work to fill staff vacancies.

During his report to the Howard County Board of Education last Thursday, Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) Superintendent Bill Barnes said HCPSS's HR department had been hard at work.

The school district hired 260 new educators, as well as 41 paraeducators, according to Barnes. Those numbers include special education hires.

Excitement of a new school year

Many students WJZ met were excited for the new school year to begin.

"This year I'm in the chamber orchestra, which is really exciting for me because I'm really into orchestra. I love playing viola," said Merin Ward, a 7th grader at Wilde Lake Middle School.

Kaden Howard, another 7th grader at Wilde Lake Middle School, said, "I'm excited just to choose my own classes. So, this year I can do art, music, whatever I would like to."

Several buses were late 

A handful of buses reportedly ran as late as a half hour on Monday morning, but there were no issues with dismissal and returning students home.

In 2023, about 20 school bus routes were temporarily suspended in Howard County because of issues with the California-based transportation company Zum. Zum blamed driver callouts and shortages for delays and leaving students without rides.

Last week, Howard County school leaders warned drivers about safety around school buses.

In Howard County, around 42,000 students get to and from school by bus. In the county, drivers were issued 8,285 citations during the last school year. That equals out to around 46 citations each school day.

Strategic plan for special education

Last week at a Howard County Board of Education meeting, the school district unveiled a new strategic plan that aims to restructure and bolster the special education program.

The five-year plan -- named Building Better Together: Strategic Support for Growth and Success -- was created with input from staff, students, families, and other community groups. 

The overarching goal is to make special education in the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) a consistent experience across the board.

"We have heard and understand that we have best practices in the delivery of instruction in many of our spaces, but we are not consistent at a district-wide level in our delivery," said Jennifer Riccardi, the acting director of special education.

The plan has five themes:

• Accelerating Student Learning
• Enhancing Supportive and Safe Learning Environments
• Increasing Staff Support and Capacity Building
• Implementing Organization Improvements
• Fostering Family and Community Engagement

Each theme has its own goals, strategies, and methods of measuring progress. 

Some of those goals include improving IEP progress, creating more professional learning pipelines for educators, and increasing transparency with families.

Some of the plans that have already been implemented, adding staff like coordinators and autism specialists.