Superintendent discusses changes to Union County schools as students return

A new school year can bring new challenges, but according to Union County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Andrew Houlihan, the first morning went about as well as it could on Monday.

Houlihan told Channel 9 that over 40,000 kids are back in UCPS and transportation has been arranged for every student who needs it. He says every bus route was staffed on Monday morning.

The biggest complaints from parents on the first day seemed to be about long car rider lines and increased traffic.

Houlihan, who is going into his ninth year as superintendent, says that is to be expected the first week, but it should become more normal by the second week.

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“Within the first week, it’s going to take some time to get the kinks out of the system when it comes to logistics and transportation,” Houlihan said. With that in mind, he encourages parents to give themselves at least 15 more minutes than usual to get their kids to school on time.

As for changes within the schools, Houlihan says safety and employment are some of the things the district has improved on.

He says there are only about 50 teacher vacancies and about 20 bus driver vacancies, which are the best numbers the district has seen since before the pandemic. Some of these are already set to be filled by new hires who are training for the job.

“We’re really excited that we have committed individuals who want to work for team UCPS that are committed employees,” Houlihan said. “Even the ones that are brand new are really thriving in our school system.”

As far as safety, Union County is expected to be one of the first districts in the state with a student resource officer assigned to each school building by the end of the year.

The district also used its new body scanners for its varsity football games on Friday. The superintendent says it went well.

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