Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry The sign at the bottom of the road to Warren Area High School, Warren Area Elementary Center, and Warren County Career Center welcomes students back to school after more than five months.

Today marks the first day of in-person schooling in the Warren County School District since March.

Things will look different for those who return.

Floor markings intended to help students maintain social distancing are in place.

Safety protocols from distancing students in classrooms to placing hand sanitizer dispensers all over to disabling water fountains are in effect.

Students, teachers, and staff will have to wear masks essentially all day.

Times Observer Photo by Brian Ferry Signs help visitors to Warren Area Elementary Center know where they should be going and not going.

And, there will be fewer students in the buildings. District administrators expect about 1 in 4 students to receive their education at home in front of computers to begin the year.

Despite the large numbers of students being educated at a distance, officials expect more traffic than usual around the schools.

Social distancing guidelines apply to school buses, too, limiting the number of students on each bus. Parents have been encouraged to drive students to school and parking fees have been waived for students old enough to drive themselves.

“I would like to remind drivers that we expect higher than normal traffic at each school this year,” Safety and Security Coordinator Brandon Deppen said. “We expect more parents to transport their children to school instead of riding the bus. This will cause traffic congestion on school property and in the surrounding neighborhoods.”

“If you are planning to drop your child off at school please have them ready to exit the vehicle as soon as you get to the drop off location,” Deppen said. “This will expedite the drop-off process for everyone.”

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry A sign at Warren Area Elementary Center indicates the student drop-off zone.

Beaty-Warren Middle School drop-offs earned a special note asking parents not to take their students onto school property.

“If you have a student that attends Beaty, and will be driving them to school, please drop them off in the surrounding neighborhoods,” Deppen said. “Crossing guards are located at Third Avenue and Conewango Avenue to safely cross the street.”

The suggested drop-off locations are: Water Street (across the Third Avenue bridge); Third Avenue above Conewango Avenue, and Jefferson Street or Division Street.

“Parents who go to the bus ramp at Beaty will cause congestion and their trip will be considerably longer,” he said.

Of course, there will be students waiting for buses.

“The district would like to remind drivers to yield to school bus lights and watch for children standing at bus stops,” Deppen said. “We all want a safe start to our school year.”

Phone issues

On Monday, some people trying to get in touch with their schools were frustrated. The district sent out a notice indicating that high call volumes coupled with an internet outage over the weekend are causing problems. “The phone ‘trunk’ at each building is currently only able to handle a maximum of 13 calls at a time,” according to the release.

There is no estimated time in the release at which the system will be back to full function.