Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday ordered all public and charter schools in the state to remain closed for the remainder of the school year.
The order was based on recommendations made by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, along with several school superintendents from rural and urban areas across the state.
“Continuing our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, I am ordering all public and charter schools to remain closed through the remainder of this academic year, with the exception of nutrition and child care outlined in our Stay Home Missouri Order,” said Parson during Thursday's daily press briefing from the state capitol in Jefferson City.
In his order, Parson said that school services are expected to continue through the last day of school in each school district as pre-established by the academic calendar approved by their local board of education.
"These continued services include alternative educational opportunities as well as providing much-needed meals to students who count on them," Parson said.
Thursday's announcement caught local school administrators off guard.
"We've always planned for a worst-case scenario," said Perry County School District superintendent Andy Comstock. " We've been planning for, "What if we can't return? How is this going to work? What can we do?' I thought we had a little more time before this would come down because they just moved it back to April 24."
All schools in Perry County have been closed since March 18 and had initially hoped to reopen on April 6. The date was then pushed back to April 24, and then early May.
"This is kind of a shock," Comstock said. "I thought I had at least a week or so to get our worst-case scenario plans finalized."
Commissioner Margie Vandeven, who also spoke during Thursday's briefing, said DESE's recommendation was not made lightly.
"This decision was made to continue protecting the health and safety of our students and school staff members," Vandeven said. "We know, maybe now more than ever, just how important our public schools are, how critical the services are that they provide their local communities, and how important the work is that our educators do each and every day for our children."
In Perry County, the first school to close its doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic was St. Vincent de Paul in Perryville, reacting to an order from Archbishop Robert J. Carlson issued on March 15 closing all Catholic schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese through April 3. A second order issued on March 22, said all schools should remain closed until April 27.
St. Vincent Head of Schools Deacon Rob Huff said that, while the initial closure was not ideal and the subsequent changes not have been the desired outcome, he understands the decision.
“Safety is the number one consideration and should be the top priority in a situation like this,” Huff said.
As with most schools, whether public, charter or parochial, Huff said his staff plans to continue its efforts in providing remote-learning opportunities, whether online or distance learning from home.
“Teachers and families are doing as good of a job as the circumstances will allow,” Huff said. "It’s a difficult situation, more so for some families than others, but I don’t think anybody could expect anything more."
Altenburg Public School Principal Debbie Haertling, while concerned for the health of her staff and students, said the governor's order left her feeling a bit sad.
“It’s a difficult time because we said goodbye to our kids so quickly in March,” Haertling said. “We didn’t get to do those end-of-the-year activities with the kids.”
Virtual learning can be more difficult in the Altenburg area, but Haertling and the staff will continue to do their best.
"We have been e-mailing parents different activities that they can do with their kids, so we have been keeping in touch that way,” Haertling said.
Distance learning is also challenging at United in Christ Lutheran School in Frohna, where reliable internet access is also hard to come by.
Principal Cheryl Honoree said she was upset by the announcement.
"I'm not real happy about it," Honoree said. "I haven't met with my board yet, of course, but I'm pretty sure we will just go ahead and follow what the governor says. He's got more experts and people working with him who understand the situation better than we could."
In the meantime, Honoree said the school would continue with its efforts to keep children learning, even though it's been a challenge.
"We have been sending packets of work home for the kids," Honoree said. "About once a week or once every other week, we set a time and parents can come in and drop off children's work and pick up a new packet. We do a little bit of electronic stuff, too, but not all of our kids have access."
Velda Haertling, principal at Immanuel Lutheran in Perryville, said Thursday that she needed to meet with her board before sharing any plans, but said her staff would continue to assist the school’s students with remote learning opportunities.
“Our teachers really miss their students,” Haertling said.
During Thursday's briefing, Vandeven said she understands each district is different, but asked educators to do the best they can under the circumstances.
"We know remote teaching and learning looks different in every district across our state — so we are simply asking our school leaders to continue to be creative, innovative and persistent in their pursuit to reach students with some kind of academic opportunity," Vandeven said.
In her comments, Vandeven acknowledged the governor's order brings with it a number of additional questions, ranging from summer school possibilities to the impact on graduating seniors.
"Please know that our department is working quickly to address these and many other questions in conjunction with the governor’s office, continuing our efforts to help local school leaders navigate this process," Vandeven said, "removing barriers, simplifying any processes that we can and waiving the necessary state statutes and regulations."
Republic-Monitor reporter Justin Hotop contributed to this report.
