Fulton Public Schools head back to the classroom despite unfinished construction and staff shortages

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

Fulton Public Schools started the 2023 through 2024 school year Wednesday morning.

Superintendent for Fulton Schools, Dr. Ty Crain told ABC 17 to prepare for the first day of school, maintenance crews have been working throughout the summer to not only clean up the buildings, but to also finish some construction projects as well.

The district is currently finishing up adding eight classroom additions in the middle school and finishing the high school's parking lot. In addition, they are also starting up a kindergarten center project at Fulton Early Childhood Center.

Despite the construction, Crain assured ABC 17 News that classrooms will be ready to go.

As for staffing, Crain says the district has enough teachers and staff to start the school year but they do have some open positions to be filled.

Same goes for bus drivers in the Fulton School District. Crain noted they are short three drivers, causing bus route adjustments. Crain reassured that they have all routes covered, and all students using the transportation will be able to.

The district also plans to begin testing for lead this fall in school buildings as part of the get the lead out of schools water act, which was passed last year.

The school will also begin its second phase in utlitizing the state-funded app Raport Alert. The app allows teachers to signal out to other teachers and emergency personnel that there is a threat present.

As far as test scores, the district plans to help increase those scores by providing one-on-one teacher workshops to help students who need it.

As for attendance in Fulton schools, the district began a campaign to encourage students to come to school. There was a 6% increase in attendance from last year compared to the year before.