Back to school: Summer break ends for thousands of local students

PITTSBURGH — Summer break is officially over for thousands of students in the Channel 11 News viewing area.

The first day of school for several districts was Monday – including Pittsburgh Public Schools.

A new tool is available to parents of students in the district that offers real-time information online.

Information such as a child’s attendance, grades, teacher comments and homework assignments are made available to parents.

For more information, click here.

Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, Linda Lane, said this year she is focusing on cracking down on school absences  -- something that increased last school year.

“We had students chronically absent…, 10 percent of the school year. That’s close to a month of school. So we know that does not help learning. We have some great teachers, but they have to have the kids in front of them,” Lane said.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania State Police are making sure all children are safe on their buses. Troopers just finished a huge round of inspections and they say hundreds of buses failed.

Everything from bad seats to broken emergency alarms were found. Officials said the most common violation was burned out lights.

Don’t forget to share your back-to-school photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #wpxischool.

WPXI