BUFFALO, N.Y. — With Labor Day weekend now in the past, the countdown to the first bell is underway.
Superintendents across the Western New York region are now gearing up for the start of the school year this week.
In Buffalo, now that key issues like a teachers' contract and the bus driver shortage are in the past, according to superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams, this year, the focus is on discipline.
Buffalo Public Schools introduced a new code of conduct last month in an attempt to keep students in the classroom rather than in detention or on suspension.
“When I talk about literacy, numeracy, and increasing graduation rates, the only way that happens is if you're in school,” Williams said.
In Niagara Falls, the goals heading into the start of the year focus on the end.
“We think about graduation as the ultimate measure of why we're here keeping kids in school,” Superintendent Mark Laurrie said.
Laurrie said the district is aiming for a 90% graduation rate that he feels can be achieved through their post-secondary success program, which places students into the workforce for school credit.
“It's all about meeting kids’ interest,” he said. “It's all about preparing kids for the next level. We recognize that every student is not going to college, even though we encourage it. If they're not, then we've got to give them a career, not a job, but a career.”
In Williamsville, it’s about bullying, with its superintendent posting this video on social media asking students to stand up, not stand by.
“When bullying takes place no one can be a bystander,” Superintendent Darren Brown-Hall said. “We have to make certain that every student feels safe and has a sense of belonging in our schools every day. Our battle against bullying will ensure that.”