In light of the repairs needed for all its school buildings due to damage from the EF3 tornado on March 14-15, Perry County School District 32 conducted a public meeting of the board of education on Wednesday, March 19, at American Legion Post 133.
The meeting's purpose was to discuss the damage that resulted in the immediate closure of schools for the week and to outline the efforts being made to help students return to their classrooms as soon as possible.
Approximately 150 parents, students, school staff, city officials, and other interested individuals attended the meeting, which had to be relocated to a larger space to accommodate everyone.
Addressing those in attendance, Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones said, “We are here to gain knowledge of what we know about our school buildings. We are still working and waiting for answers that need to be done, and we need to work through those answers as they come to us so we can plan on getting our students back on campus. And we're here tonight just to let you, update you on the information that we have so far. I hate to tell you that it's not a lot, but it is some. We will get more information as it comes and get that out to you, but we want to share with you the knowledge that we have tonight about our buildings.
As everyone knows, on Saturday morning, we had emergency crews on site. Those emergency crews were tasked with boarding up broken windows and doors, securing and patching up roofs. We had damage on every roof in the district to varying degrees. Their main focus was to try to close up everything that we possibly could so that we don't get any secondary damage.
“That's winds, rains coming in, causing moisture where we don't need it. So, their primary focus for those first two days, Saturday and Sunday, was to shore up everything, close up the best we could and make it as safe as possible for those crews on Saturday. We actually pulled in the full admin team. We had to pull them off campus. It wasn't safe. They wouldn't let us come on, so we met off campus and immediately started assessing what tasks we had to jump in right away. On Sunday, we continued that work with our admin team.”
Dr. Jones mentioned that Superintendent Dr. C.J. Huff from Joplin, who had experienced a tornado in the southwest Missouri city around 14 years ago, visited the school
“He came in person,” she said. “I spoke to him on Saturday, and he came in person on Sunday to talk to our admin team about things that we should expect, things that we should prepare for, and to try to advise us of things that we should avoid as well. He came back again on Monday and worked with us as we started beginning to develop multiple plans on what to do ahead based on what we find out. So, we're not sitting on our hands. We're not waiting for information. I know you all want to know more. We do, too.
We are already making plans, we have lots of plans, but it depends on what we find out which plans we can go with. Those plans, some of those, we were able to initiate some things Today, we have moved out of the old senior high building so that those spaces can be utilized back into classroom spaces. in the case that some classrooms we cannot return students safely to. So, our full admin team has moved out of that building today. There are repairs that are going to be done while we're out. And as soon as those repairs are done — such as broken windows, the portion of the roof torn off — those things will be completed without us in there, so we're moving fast, so those spaces can be turned back into classroom settings. As far as other things that we've done, everything that we are focusing on right now is to get kids on campus. We do not want to have to do online learning. We know that is not the best way for students, and it's not best for our teachers. We want students on campus with each other and with us, and that is what we're driving for hard. It's difficult to tell you what that looks like right now because we have a lot of questions that have not been answered yet.
Jones added that structural engineers will be checking out the buildings.
“Some of those questions include, we have structural engineers who have been visiting all of the buildings, walking through those spaces, but we do not have anything in writing yet, what spaces are safe. I'm not making decisions until I see something in writing that my kids are safe to be in those areas, as well as structurally and environmentally; we have great concerns. Some of the buildings that have the most significant damage are our older buildings. We have the potential for asbestos to be in those. Those asbestos areas have been encapsulated for years safely, but because of this storm and the damage that we've seen in that particular building and area, it's possible that there could be some exposure. So, we're not letting anybody in there. We're not going to do anything that's going to put anybody in harm until we have results back from that.”
Subsequently, the school district announced that it had received the results of the asbestos testing conducted. It found that some areas of the facility tested positive for asbestos, which was expected given that the building was constructed in the 1950s. Additional testing was performed, and district leaders were awaiting the results. Perryville High School, Perry County Middle School, and the surrounding grounds remain closed for public safety.
Before the meeting concluded, the school board passed the hiring of a licensed public adjuster who is also an expert in that area to help the school district through the massive projects ahead.
“I am an educator,” Jones said. “I am not an insurance adjuster. I am not a contractor. I am an educator, and I know to surround myself with people who are experts so that I can make good decisions that are best for our kids, our staff, and our community.”
After the meeting, the board announced a plan for returning students to the school campuses.
Some students will be able to return to class on Monday after missing one week of school after a tornado ripped across the campus of Perry County School District 32.
All students who attend Perryville Primary Center (Grades PK-2), Little Pirates, the Early Childhood Special Education program, and the three-hour block students and CEO Program students at Perryville Area Career and Technology Center resumed classes on Monday during regular hours.
Perryville Elementary School students in grades 3-5 resumed classes on Wednesday for their regular hours. Additionally, the Adventure Club also resumed its normal hours of operation on the same day.
Perry County Middle School — grades 6-8 —and Perryville High School students — grades 9-12, except for three-hour block students who attend the Career Center — cannot resume classes now. However, the school district promised regular updates will be provided about the status of those students.
Bus service was provided for Primary, three-hour block, and CEO Program students beginning on Monday, and buses began picking up elementary students on Wednesday. Parents are asked to anticipate that buses may be a few minutes off the normal schedule.
PHS students who drive to campus for three-hour block programs and the CEO program are being asked to park at the Career Center. PHS students who ride the bus can stay at the Career Center all day if needed.
Families who have been displaced and need bus service at a new address should contact the Transportation Department at 573-547-7500 ext. 1790.
On March 21, it was announced that the Old Senior High building was being prepped to welcome students to class again after the tornado heavily damaged Perryville High School. Since 2019, the Old Senior High has served as the Central Office of Perry County School District 32.
To make additional space available for classrooms on campus, the Central Office has moved to 519 N. Main St. The district is renting the office space from the Perry County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees.
The Central Office resumed regular office hours on Monday. Office hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. The phone number is 573-547-7500 Ext. 1328.
