Beaufort Co. students returning to the classroom

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Beaufort County students have their first day of school Monday morning.

Superintendent Dr. Frank Rodriguez says the biggest change is the district’s new food service program.

Cafeterias in Beaufort County schools this year will work a little differently and with higher tech than when most of us were in classrooms. The Nutrition Group is taking over the responsibility of feeding all 21,000 plus students here.

“They’re doing a great job with that transition and we look forward to working with them. They’ve got an app they’ve put out for families to look at menus and so there’s a lot of exciting and different things happening,” Dr. Frank Rodriguez said.

He says some of those other exciting programs include a virtual dissection program for science classes around the district, that will allow students to really immerse themselves into their learning.

While they’ve got those new programs, Dr. Rodriguez’s most important message remains the same every year. He says the district is just so thrilled to welcome students back to school in a few hours and they can’t for a hopefully normal year.

Dr. Frank Rodriguez says they’ve missed the students greatly over the summer and want parents to be prepared for wait times in the car line this morning.

Like every other school district, he says the first day of school is always a testing ground for systems like pick up and drop off... so just as a reminder the superintendent says that might take a little longer than normal today. That hasn’t put a damper on his excitement though.

“That’s one of the most exciting days of the year is the first day of school, welcoming students back. They’re generally very excited to be back and see their friends again and connect and our teachers are ready for them. Our teachers have been working hard to prepare so we’re excited, we’re ready.”

Those teachers are also coming into this school year on a high, after receiving a base pay raise that brought Beaufort County from being ranked 53rd for teacher pay in the state, to near the top.

The teachers started last week and now, the kids are coming in to join them.