Northside ISD welcomed a record number of students for the start of the 2007-08 school year on Monday, Aug. 27. Though final enrollment figures are not available yet, the District is expecting more than 85,500 students, an increase of 4,000 students from last year.
In addition to thousands more cars on the road, the first day of school also means more than 700 school buses on the road carrying over 43,000 students to school.
"With this much more traffic on the road," says Dr. John Folks, Superintendent, "it is important that people be more careful. Children will be walking to and from school so motorists need to be especially watchful."
To meet the surging enrollment, three new schools, Aue and Driggers elementary schools and Jefferson Middle School join the other 98 schools in the District that serve students throughout this 355-square mile school district. Eleven additional new schools and 725 new classrooms are slated to be completed in the next three years. The new schools are the result of successful bond elections in 2004 and 2007 that are funding the construction of hundreds of classrooms throughout NISD.
Last year, saw the completion of fully integrated security systems at all NISD high schools. This year, the initiative will be expanded to the middle schools thanks to the passage of School Bond 2007. The systems are designed to provide 24-hour real time surveillance. High schools have reported a decrease in serious incidents on their campuses. The high school security systems are a result of the voter-approved Bond 2004.