The Perry County School District 32 Board of Education decided on Friday to delay the start of classes at Perryville High School and the Perryville Area Career and Technology Center.
Instead of starting on Wednesday, Aug. 20 as originally planned, PHS and Career Center classes will now start on Monday, Aug. 25. All other District 32 schools will still start on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
PHS will still hold its Open House from 12-7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18 at Perry County Middle School, where students will have photos taken, receive their class schedules, and meet with teachers. District 32 will plan an engagement activity to give the public the opportunity to tour the temporary facilities at a later date.
“Although everyone behind the scenes has been working tirelessly to prepare our temporary classroom facilities, it has become clear that we need a little more time to be fully ready,” said Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones. “This delay will provide PHS teachers and staff much-needed time to set up classrooms, organize materials, and create the best possible environment for our students to learn this year.”
Construction has been underway on temporary classrooms for PHS since early July. These facilities will temporarily house PHS — which experienced significant damage during the March 14 tornado — until the long-term recovery process is finished at the damaged PHS building. Because District 32 has additional instructional time beyond the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requirements, PHS students will still be able to finish the year on May 20 along with the other grade levels.
District 32 approves gravel lot construction
The Perry County School District 32 Board of Education approved the construction of a multi-purpose gravel lot on campus during its August meeting on Wednesday night.
The new lot will be built in the grassy area between the Perryville Area Career and Technology Center and the Perryville Primary Center. It will add about 100 parking spots for students, staff, and visitors. The gravel lot will help replace some of the student parking lost due to the construction of temporary classrooms on the Perryville High School gravel lot. The construction team broke ground on the project Thursday.
“This lot is going to help keep more of our student and staff cars on campus and off of city streets,” said Garrett Schott, District 32 safety director officer. “It will also be a big help long-term to have this extra space for football games and other campus events like grandparents’ days and music programs.”
