Philly School District kicks off 4th annual back-to-school bus tour in West Philly

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The new school year begins before Labor Day for the Philadelphia School District and many charter schools, and students are already preparing.

The school district’s fourth annual back-to-school bus tour kicked off Monday at the School of the Future in West Philly. Vendors offered free backpacks and school supplies while district staff provided parents with information about the new school year that begins Aug. 26.

With less than a month to go, the district has filled 94% of its teaching positions. Superintendent Tony Watlington says that’s on par with the “fill rate” of this time last year.

“We’ll have to use some fill-ins with certified staff from some other areas to fill some of those classroom vacancies,” Watlington said. “But all of our classrooms will be staffed, and we will make sure that we follow the appropriate class size limits.”

Watlington said the district has tried to keep closer track of how many teachers will be needed after pledging not to shift them around based on actual fall enrollment.

“The fact that we will not level teachers has forced us to do a good thing: Keeping our arms around our young people, staying in touch with them, knowing where they are.”

According to the district, 77% of bus attendants’ jobs are filled compared to 62% this time last year. Eighty-eight percent of the school climate staff has been hired compared to 77% a year ago, and 92% of food service jobs have been filled compared to 82% this time last year.

The district plans another hiring fair on Aug. 7 at the Northeast Community Propel Academy on 7500 Rowland Avenue.

The first day of classes for Mastery Charter’s 23 schools in Philadelphia and Camden is Aug. 21.

At Mastery’s Mann Elementary in Wynnefield, Mastery CEO Joel Boyd spent his morning with incoming kindergarten students enrolled in a summer program designed to prepare them for school.

“They get access to everything that they typically would during a school day,” Boyd said. “Some, they truly come the first day of school, they’re truly Kinder Ready. We started last year, expanded it significantly this year and we plan to continue expanding it. We’re hearing from our families that they really value the opportunity.”

The expansion of Mastery’s Kinder Ready program to 12 schools is funded by a federal grant designed to help get third-grade reading scores to grade level.