Rite of summer: Central Unified kicks off new school year for Valley

About 16,000 students began the new school year Wednesday in the Central Unified School District.

Central was the first of the major central San Joaquin Valley districts to resume classes after the summer break. Fresno Unified starts Monday, and Clovis Unified begins Aug. 21.

Central spokeswoman Sonja Dosti said the enrollment will fluctuate over the first few weeks of school as students trickle back to campuses. Central has 13 elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school (with east and west campuses), plus a K-8. Most of the district is west of Highway 99 in Fresno.

Dosti said no problems were reported, and thanked a strong police presence for keeping traffic in order around schools. Fresno and Clovis police plan similar enforcement actions when those districts’ schools resume.

This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Rite of summer: Central Unified kicks off new school year for Valley."