DeSoto Parish students headed back to the books this morning. Schools Superintendent Cade Brumley made the rounds to various schools as the new school year got underway. He says...so far, so good.

He did have this advice for parents: "For one, we just ask that if you're driving your kid to school yourself, maybe leave a few minutes early. Also, just watch out for pedestrian traffic as you get in those school zones."

Dr. Brumley also suggests that parents take time over the first few weeks of school to meet their children's teachers, especially if they missed the back-to-school event. You can also see if there's anything you can do to help out the class in any way.

Brumley says he understands there are Pre-K and Kindergartners who are getting used to riding the bus to school for the first time. "The younger the children are, the greater the teacher presence out there to greet them," Dr. Brumley says. "We have had open house events at most of our schools, and we've tried to be able to connect teachers with student faces, and students with teacher faces, so that we can get most of that done, even before the first official day of school." Brumley did spend time with bus drivers last week in an in-service, to talk about precautionary measures they need to take to ensure student safety from the oldest riders to the youngest.

Dr. Brumley tells KEEL News he's expecting a smooth transition into the new school year. "We have a vibrant academic year planned," he says. "While there will always be glitches and problems when you're dealing with a large number of people in a school system, we try and get it right more than we get it wrong. And we just ask that if anyone has any problems or concerns, they go and talk through that with their teacher and principal and see if we can't come to some common ground."

More From News Radio 710 KEEL