School plans controlled burn

The Perry County District No. 32 School Board returned to its regularly scheduled meeting time last Wednesday, and with it came a look at a unique experiment by a class. Mr. Paul Gholson’s Wildlife Biology class has been working with the Missouri Conservation Department and also the Perryville Fire Department to conduct a controlled burn in the nature area on campus.
The burn will be monitored and the burned portion will then be used as an experiment to see what will grow in the area. The area is estimated to be one acre in size.
“It’s going to have to be on a day with the right weather and circumstances that they burn off this area,” Perryville High School Principal Jeff Steffens said. “It’s going to be similar to the controlled burn the city recently had that was near my house. The kids in that class are pretty excited to be able to do this.”
The meeting began with the board approving the 2021-2022 academic calendar for next school year. School board member Kevin Bachmann presented a question as to the success the district has seen with the virtual school days.
Perryville Primary Center Principal Emily Koenig said the process has improved over the course of the year.
“It’s certainly better than when we started,” she said. “Obviously face-to-face learning is the best option for everyone, but I think we have come a long way and the kids are getting instruction on those days and completing it more now.”

Comstock said that the district has outfitted 20 buses with WiFi capability and looks to add more buses to that fleet for a total of 31.
“We are going to try to use as many buses as we can and put them in places where there are service so that kids don’t have to travel as far if we ever run into a situation like this past year again.”
Comstock presented his annual report where he stated that the Elementary School renovation project is moving along smoothly. Comstock stated that the end of June target date for completion is still doable.
“We want to be able to get everything cleaned up for teachers to move in during the first part of August,” Comstock said.
Comstock also mentioned some summer projects that are on his list to be completed. They included some improvements to the middle school gym such new paint, bathroom and floor improvements.
The meeting concluded as Craig Hayden, Director of the Perryville Career Center, presented an update on the programs the facility offers. He presented a five-minute video that briefly highlighted each of the programs. Hayden also highlighted some of the projects the students created in the different classes and was commended for his hard work and dedication to the programs.
“I’ve had two different staff members in the building point out to me how great it is to work under the direction of Mr. Hayden.” Board member Ashley Gerringer said.