Columbia Public Schools welcomed 18,720 students Tuesday for the first day of school.
District spokesperson Michelle Baumstark said in an email that the first day attendance represents an increase of 74 students over the 2024-25 school year enrollment.
State law requires official enrollment to be calculated on the last Wednesday of September, allowing for late enrollment, she said.
New Columbia Public Schools’ Superintendent Jeff Klein told KOMU 8 that the theme for his first year as superintendent is to make the district the best place to work and learn.
“Building relationships is really, really important to me,” he said. “I think the foundation of everything we do in the classroom and districtwide is really about having a strong, positive, learning-focused relationship.”
New policies are being implemented this school year, including a ban on cellphone use for all grade levels the entire school day.
Klein said the best way for parents to contact their children during the school day is to contact the office of the school their child attends.
“We certainly will help put them in communication with their child,” he said.
The ban on cellphones also extends to any personal electronic devices, such as smartwatches.
“The best thing to do is just to make sure those devices aren’t being used throughout the day, especially as a smart device,” Klein said. Disciplinary action will taken against those violating the new rules.
The district is using a new bus company this year, DS Bus Lines, which comes with new technology. In an email sent to parents on Friday, the district said it will roll out an app in September that parents can use to track the progress of their child’s bus.
Klein said the district’s bus drivers have been preparing and practicing routes to make sure the start of school transportation runs smoothly.
“We’ve been focusing on routing for a couple of weeks,” he said. “Making sure those routes are efficient, that they’re the safest possible routes. That’s our number one priority.”
Klein said the new fleet of buses has rolled in throughout the past few weeks, and drivers ran their routes last week.
“Things have been going really well so far,” he said. “We’re really anticipating a great start.”
