By Steve Lyttle
slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Nearly 1.5 million North Carolina public school students are returning to class today, including several hundred thousand in the Charlotte area.

Several thousand Charlotte-Mecklenburg students are participating in a new shuttle bus system, with buses transporting children to and from the 11 full magnet CMS schools. The first of those buses left a number of school sites shortly after 6 a.m. today, with no apparent problems.

"So far, so good," CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said after three shuttle buses left the East Mecklenburg High lot about 6:10 a.m.

But the opening of school hasn't been smooth everywhere.

A water line break in the Catawba County town of Newton has forced a two-hour delay in opening for two Catawba County schools and all schools in the Newton-Conover system. Newton town officials said shortly after 5 a.m. today that they hope to have water pressure restored by mid-morning.

Keep up with back-to-school developments throughout the day – including a live, streaming update – with our online partner, CharlotteObserver.com.
 

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