Sarasota-Manatee back to school news you can use for the start of the 2023 school year
Students, teachers, and parents are heading back to school campuses Thursday for the start of the 2023-24 academic calendar in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Here is some information to help smooth the transition back to school this year.
Manatee County School District
School hours
Elementary: 8:25 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Middle school: 9:20 a.m. - 4:10 p.m.
High school: 7:30 a.m. - 2:25 p.m.
To download an English version of the Manatee County Schools academic calendar go to https://www.manateeschools.net/Page/2#calendar23877/20230808/month/calendar1/20230808/month.
Quick tips for parents
Visit the district's website for a checklist that will help parents and families: https://www.manateeschools.net/cms/lib/FL02202357/Centricity/Domain/6109/BacktoSchool2023_Checklist.pdf
Transportation and buses
Transportation Office hours are 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Phone: 941-782-1287.
Students in Manatee County schools must be registered to an assigned bus in order to ride district school buses. Students must be registered as bus riders before the start of the school year on Aug. 10. Follow this link to the School District of Manatee County to register your K-12 grader to ride a Manatee County school bus this year: Register to Ride 2023-2024.
Manatee County offers parents the option to download and use the "Where's the Bus" phone app to follow and track the location of their child(ren)'s bus. The app is free and available to use on all smart devices including phones, tablets and computers. More information can be found on the district's website: https://www.manateeschools.net/Page/7667.
Nutrition options and meals
Each year, the Manatee County school district serves a total of 8.5 million meals, including its summer and holiday meal programs many students use during school breaks. Parents may use the district's new online meal program SchoolCafe to view school menus, set up lunch accounts, and more: https://www.schoolcafe.com/ManateeCountySchools.
Existing food service balances and funds from the previous school year were automatically transferred to SchoolCafe, but parents must create a SchoolCafe account to access funds and register students.
Facts & figures
Enrollment: Manatee County has 52,000 enrolled students this year across 65 schools.
Cafeterias: Each day, district schools serve 15,000 breakfasts to students and 30,000 lunches.
Bus routes: A total of 103 bus routes were driven in the previous school year for a total of 12,926 miles per day.
Enhancing schools: The district has 16 school renovation or construction projects pending.
District leadership
The School District of Manatee County swore in its newest district superintendent Jason Wysong in May. Wysong replaced Cynthia Saunders after her retirement on June 30. To reach Wsyong you can email wysongj@manateeschools.net or his executive assistant Laura Eaton at eatonl@manateeschools.net.
More: Manatee School Board hires Jason Wysong from Seminole County as next superintendent
School District of Manatee County School Board members include:
Gina Messenger, District 1, messengerg@manateeschools.net
Cindy Spray, District 2, sprayc@manateeschools.net
Mary Freeman, District 3, foremanm@manateeschools.net
Chad Chaote III, District 4, choatew2@manateeschools.net
Richard Tatem, District 5, tatemr@manateeschools.net
Sarasota County School District
School hours
Some school hours, including district charter schools, vary. Please visit your school's website for its start and end time this year via the SCS school directory https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/domain/36.
Elementary school: 8:15 a.m. – 3 p.m.Middle school: 9:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.High school: 7:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Quick tips for parents
Sarasota County Schools has compiled a full list of Back To School checklists, forms and information for district families including dress code infographics, health information, resource officer introductions, and more. Visit the SCS Back To School prep list at https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/backtoschool.
Transportation and buses
To reach the Sarasota County Schools transportation office call 941-486-2141, ext. 68002, or email Charlotte Price, Assistant Director of Operations at charlotte.price@sarasotacountyschools.net.
Sarasota County Schools have also switched over to a pre-registration bus transportation system. Parents must enroll students who plan to ride the bus to and from school. Unregistered students waiting at the bus stop without a parent or guardian will be taken to school. The parent or guardian will be responsible for picking the child up from school until the child is registered and assigned a bus stop.
To register your child(ren) for an assigned bus stop and spot on a district bus visit the Sarasota County Schools website and follow the link to the Bus Stop Registration Form.
Sarasota County also uses the Where's The Bus app for tracking school bus routes and students. Parents may register for the free app and download it to any device via the SCS website.
Transportation is provided to students in grades K-12 if they live more than two miles from school. Find answers to the most frequently asked transportation questions on the district's website here: https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/Page/1351.
Nutrition options and meals
Questions about lunch or breakfast accounts at a Sarasota County school can be directed to the Food and Nutrition Central office for assistance at 941-486-2199.
The Sarasota County School District serves approximately 36,000 meals each day in the district. The district works with local farms annually to source and purchase fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs directly from local growers such as Potato Farm in Parrish, Homestead Hydroponics in Myakka City, Palmetto Acres in Arcadia, and others.
School menus can be found at NutriSlice.com via the SCS website and parents and students will still be able to use My School Bucks for funding school lunch accounts this year via the website at. https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home or the mobile app.
Facts & figures
Enrollment: Sarasota County has a projected 49,000 enrolled students this year across 62 schools. Cafeterias: Each day, SCS serves 36,000 meals to its district studentsBus routes: A total of 200 buses travel 30,000 miles daily in Sarasota County transporting 18,000 students. Enhancing schools: SCS currently has 50 school construction projects in the works with another eight pending projects slated to begin this year. The district's current construction project budget is $737.3 million.
District leadership
Last month the district swore in its third district superintendent in three years, Terry Connor. Connor replaced ousted Brennan Asplen. To reach Connor email terry.connor@sarasotacountyschools.net or his executive assistant Linda Termine at linda.termine@sarasotacountyschools.net.
More: Terry Connor sworn in as next Sarasota school district superintendent
The Sarasota County School Board members include
Bridget Zielger, District 1, bridget.ziegler@sarasotacountyschools.net
Karen Rose, District 2, karen.rose@sarasotacountyschools.net
Tom Edwards, District 3, thomas.edwards@sarasotacountyschools.net
Robin Marinelli, District 4, timothy.enos@sarasotacountyschools.net
Tim Enos, District 5, robyn.marinelli@sarasotacountyschools.net
To contact the SCS school board email schoolboardmembers@sarasotacountyschools.net or the board's administrative assistant Kathy Tomkins at kathy.tomkins@sarasotacountyschools.net.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Tackle the new Sarasota-Manatee school year with this guide
