Perry County School District 32 received a long-awaited determination from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday regarding its Public Assistance Grant application for tornado recovery at Perryville High School.
FEMA sent a letter to the district 32 and Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency notifying that the damaged PHS building has qualified for “replacement” under the Public Assistance Grant.
The PHS building has met FEMA’s threshold for its “50 percent rule,” meaning the estimated cost to repair the damaged structure exceeds 50 percent of the estimated cost to replace the building. This determination will allow the district to request reimbursements based on estimated replacement costs rather than repair costs.
“This is the good news we have been waiting for,” said PCSD Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones. “This designation will allow us to receive a larger overall reimbursement from FEMA that we can invest in building a new permanent home for PHS.”
FEMA’s correspondence mentioned it is developing an estimate of eligible costs for the associated project, but did not give a timeline when that would be available. The school district will share those estimates once they are received.
Any FEMA funding the district is awarded will not come in one lump sum. The district will receive gradual reimbursements after submitting documentation of expenditures throughout the construction process.
The FEMA designation is a significant boon for the district’s tornado recovery plan. The district board of education recently approved a revised Proposition K.I.D.S. ballot measure that will go before voters during the Aug. 4 primary election. Prop K.I.D.S. asks voters to approve an operating tax levy increase of $0.2215 per $100 of assessed valuation to generate $35 million for the PHS construction project.
The measure would raise the District’s operating levy ceiling to $3.4979 beginning in 2026, and it would be reduced by an estimated $.5440 when the temporary levy sunsets in 2046.
This modified version of Prop KIDS is a $0.1885 reduction from the proposed $0.41 increase that failed to pass during the April general election.
“The voters spoke loud and clear in April. We knew we had to find a way to reduce the taxpayer ask, and that’s exactly what this proposal does” said board president Dominic Blythe last month. “We almost cut it in half.”
The district board has established a $60 million budget for the PHS construction project. Alongside the $35 million from Prop K.I.D.S., the district plans to fund the remaining $25 million through contributions from insurance, district funds, and FEMA reimbursements. Architects are still working through specific designs to meet the proposed budget, but are planning a roughly 140,000 square-foot facility that would include 34 classrooms, a gymnasium, a library, and a multipurpose center.
“The Board has been working diligently with our construction and finance partners on a new plan after our April ballot issue fell short,” Dr. Jones said. “This updated Prop K.I.D.S. proposal significantly reduces the ask from taxpayers while still ensuring we can build a quality high school that will serve Perry County families for years to come.”
