Teachers welcome students on 1st day of school in Union County

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Tens of thousands of students and staff members woke up for the first day of school in Union County on Monday, and school district leaders say there are new improvements in place.

That includes a new building for East Elementary School in Monroe, which will see students walk its halls for the first time on Monday. Voters approved to replace the older, smaller building in 2022. Forest Hills High School was the second school selected for construction through the 2022 school bond.

The school’s principal says they brought in more resources to support its Health Sciences Academy and dual-language program. There are also five pre-K classrooms, a big step up from the old building’s single pre-K class.

“Getting those kids, especially in the wake of post-Covid, getting more kids the opportunity for pre-k support before kindergarten is huge,” Principal Denny Ferguson told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson.

Union County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Andrew Houlihan says they’re getting ready to welcome back about 41,000 students and 5,000 staff members. He said that’s the highest staffing numbers the district has seen since 2019.

SEE MORE >> Union County schools take step to address $300K lunch debt

District leaders also said they’re focusing on keeping kids safe this school year, but UCPS says not all elementary schools will have their own school resource officer. That’s because some officers left, so some elementary schools will need to share SROs until they get back to a one-to-one ratio.

“That’s a first line of defense for us, as well as the physical hardening of campuses we’ve done to prevent intruders from coming in,” Houlihan said. “We take that issue very seriously when it comes to physical safety and well-being of our kids and staff.”

Houlihan says the positions are open and funding is available. The Union County Sheriff’s Office is finding the leaders to fill those important roles.

(VIDEO: How one Union County town is surveying every inch of its roads for improvements)