School will be out for a bit longer than expected for most Perry County students.
The Perry County School District announced Monday that, in light of President Trump’s recommendation to continue social distancing in an effort to slow the transmission of the COVID-19 virus until at least April 30, students in the district would be unable to return to class on the previously planned date of April 6.
Instead, according to a letter sent to parents by superintendent Andy Comstock, teachers will return to their classrooms on May 1 and school will resume on May 4.
“This one-week buffer will give us time to ensure that all buildings are fully sanitized, stocked and safe for our students and staff,” Comstock said in the letter. “This extended closure will continue to affect all Perry County School District 32 programming, including before- and after-school activities, all athletic and extracurricular activities, and all special events.
“If additional orders are issued by the local, state or national officials, we will review that new information [or] timeline and make necessary adjustments to our plans.”
It is unclear at this point how the extended closure will affect seniors at Perryville High School. Currently, graduation is set for May 22, which would give those students only a few weeks to complete their coursework.
“We’re making plans to go ahead with graduation as it has traditionally been held,” said PCSD communications director Kate Martin, “and we are also making tentative plans in case we have to have a virtual graduation.
The district closed its doors on March 17 following a shelter-in-place or “stay-at-home” order by the Perry County Commission and a similar closure among Catholic schools in the area ordered by the archdiocese, which includes St. Vincent de Paul in Perryville.
The county’s only other public school Altenburg, quickly followed suit, along with Immanuel Lutheran in Perryville, United in Christ Lutheran in Frohna and Saxony Lutheran in Jackson.
On March 23, the St. Louis Archdiocese announced that it was extending the closure of its parochial schools through April 22, with plans to return to class on April 27.
The county commission’s order will remain in effect until April 24, and was scheduled for review and a possible extension on April 2.
“As of now, we don’t know if that will be extended, so we’re not at the point to announce — for sure — what we’re doing about graduation,” Martin said. “No matter what happens, we’ll have a plan in place.”
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education previously ruled that Missouri schools would not have make up any days lost to COVID-19 closures and encouraged schools to continue to prepare and serve food as they have been doing during the closure and even provide childcare when or if possible.
“We’re not certain that we’ll be back in school on May 4,” Martin said. “We’re grateful that our parents and our teachers are being so understanding and flexible during this time. Schools have never faced something like this before. We are trying to plan for every eventuality because things are so uncertain day by day.”
On Monday, Comstock offered a special message to district families, calling this period a “challenging time.”
“I want to offer my personal thanks to this amazing community for the support and appreciation you are giving our teachers and staff,” Comstock said. “We miss our students and our colleagues but trust that the best thing for everyone in our community is to continue to follow the orders and advice of our medical and emergency officials. We want to see everyone back at school after this crisis ends, safe and healthy. Our teachers and staff are still hard at work providing enrichment activities and engagement opportunities to students.”
Comstock encouraged parents or guardians with questions about these activities to contact their child’s building principal.
