Photo by Deb Gau Southview Elementary fourth-grade students and teachers form a double line leading up to the school building and offered high-fives and encouragement to second and third graders on the first day of school Wednesday.

MARSHALL — Students at Marshall Public Schools returned to the classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday, and so far enrollment numbers are looking good, Superintendent Jeremy Williams said this week.

Williams told members of the Marshall School Board that the district won’t have solid data on student enrollment right away. “But our initial numbers are looking up for this fall, so that’s encouraging,” Williams said.

Williams gave an update on the start of the new school year at this week’s board meeting. In addition to anticipating growth, he said back-to-school open house events for students and families also went well at Marshall public schools.

“It’s a little bit early to have an accurate count,” Williams said of enrollment numbers. “We’ll get daily updates as we start the school year. We find a lot of changes the first couple weeks of school, until we get to that 15-day drop period.”

In an interview with the Independent late last week, Williams said it appeared that enrollment growth would be “across the board” for different age groups at MPS.

MPS also added a lot of new staff members this year, Williams and MPS mentor coach Amanda Grinager said.

“We have a big group, which is fun,” Grinager said. “We have 28 brand-new teachers to the district. If you count the number of teachers who moved positions within the district, we had 47 teachers who are receiving mentor services this year.”

Williams broke down the hiring numbers in more detail for school board members. In addition to 28 new teachers, the new hires included two new administrators and 33 new non-certified staff members. A total of 17 staff members had new positions within the Marshall school district, and 11 certified staff members completed their probationary periods last year.

Williams told the Independent that MPS still faced some challenges in finding needed staff. There continues to be a need for substitute teachers, he said.

Heading into this fall, MPS will be working to prepare for an operating referendum to go before voters on Nov. 8. If approved, the proposed referendum would increase MPS general education revenue by $675 per student, and be applicable for 10 years.

Williams said MPS is planning community presentations on the referendum over the next few weeks, as well as informational articles and social media posts. A website answering questions about the referendum would go live this week, he said.

Williams told the Independent that another goal for the district will be to continue to build up career and technical education opportunities for MPS students. Property the district purchased along North U.S. Highway 59 for a CTE center isn’t yet ready for students this fall. However, MPS also plans to incorporate more technical and family and consumer science education at Marshall Middle School, he said.