"A gift to be back in person": Despite staffing shortages, a smooth transition back to school in Worcester
WORCESTER - "Welcome back," said Chandler Elementary Principal Jessica Moss to the single file line of students clamoring through the hallway after lunch Monday.
"It's a gift. It's a gift to be back in-person, eyeball-to-eyeball, seeing smiling faces, interacting with kids and just seeing the sheer joy of them being back with us in-person," she said.
"This year is the first year in three years that we've actually felt a bit of normalcy," said Bryttani Fugere, as she picked up her son at the end of the day.
Masks are optional in Worcester Public Schools this year, and students say they feel more comfortable. "I'm happy to get back to school," said third grader Jayla Paulino. "We colored and we made a new binder."
Worcester's new school superintendent Dr. Rachel Monarrez, said the district is dealing with a staffing shortage, like many others across the state and country. "We do have some vacancies still," she said. "So, what we're doing is…any person that's in the district office in terms of support staff that can go in and support schools, we've got that in place."
There's also a need for more school bus drivers. Worcester has two new computer systems in place this year, a high-tech transportation system that tracks buses, and a student information system. They both experienced brief unexpected outages Monday morning, but by midday, they were back on track.