School opens without a hitch for Hartselle, county systems

School openings on Monday received good reports from Hartselle School District Superintendent Dr. Mike Reed and Morgan County Schools Superintendent Bill Hopkins.

Hartselle schools reported a first day attendance of 3,136 students, or about 12 more than the number attending at the same time last year.

Morgan County Schools withheld its first day attendance figures pending the clarification of numbers reported by one school. Second day attendance figures totaled 7,730, or 59 fewer than the number in attendance on the second day in 2010-2011.

“We had a great opening day,” said Reed. “I’ve not heard of a problem anywhere.”

“Our classes in the lower grades are going to be a little larger because we lost five teachers,” he added, “but that shouldn’t have a negative effect on our ability to give our students a good education.”

He credited advance preparation on the part of school administrators and teachers for helping students get their new school year off to a good start.

“We had a good opening with only a few hiccups,” reported Hopkins. “We had a few problems with our new I-Now computer software but that was corrected, and a bus wouldn‘t start because it had a dead battery. Other than that it was smooth sailing.”

We’re looking forward to a productive year,” he added.

Hartselle’s schools reported attendance as follows: Hartselle High, 999; Hartselle Junior High, 723; Crestline Elementary, 586; F.E. Burleson Elementary, 422; and Barkley Bridge Elementary, 422.

County attendance figures are listed as follows: Brewer, 888, up by eight; Cotaco, 481, down by 25; Danville-Neel Elementary, 513, up by 11; Danville Middle, 452, up by 21; Danville High, 345, down by 25; Eva, 434, up by two; Falkville Elementary, 360, down by 18; Falkville High, 404, down by 11; Lacey’s Spring, 367, down by 25; Priceville Elementary, 679, down by four; Priceville Junior High, 355, down by 28; Priceville High, 426, down by six; Sparkman, 269, down by 15; Union Hill, 460, up by 67.