The Perry County School District 32 Board of Education made the decision Friday to delay the start of classes at Perryville High School and the Perryville Area Career and Technology Center.
Instead of beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 20 as originally planned, PHS and Career Center classes will now begin on Monday, Aug. 25. All other District 32 schools will still begin classes on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
PHS will still hold its Open House from 12-7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18 at Perry County Middle School where students will have photos taken, receive class schedules, and meet with teachers. District 32 will plan an engagement activity to give the public the opportunity to tour the temporary facilities at a later date.
“Although everyone behind the scenes has been working tirelessly to prepare our temporary classroom facilities, it has become clear that we need a little more time to be fully ready,” said Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones. “This delay will provide PHS teachers and staff much-needed time to set up classrooms, organize materials, and create the best possible environment for our students to learn this year.”
Construction has been underway on temporary classrooms for PHS since early July. The facilities will serve as a temporary home for PHS — which suffered significant damage during the March 14 tornado — until long-term recovery can be completed at the damaged PHS building.
Because District 32 has extra instructional time built into its schedule beyond the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requirements, PHS students will still be able to conclude the year on May 20 along with the other grade levels.
District 32 Approves Gravel Lot Construction
The Perry County School District 32 Board of Education approved the construction of a multi-use gravel lot on campus during its August meeting on Wednesday night.
The new lot will be constructed in the grass area between the Perryville Area Career and Technology Center and the Perryville Primary Center. It will add roughly 100 parking spots to campus for use by students, staff, and visitors. The gravel lot will help compensate for some of the student parking that was lost with the construction of temporary classrooms on the Perryville High School gravel lot. The construction team broke ground on the project Thursday.
“This lot is going to help keep more of our student and staff cars on campus and off of city streets,” said District 32 Safety Director Officer Garrett Schott. “It will also be a big help long-term to have this extra space for football games and other campus events like grandparents’ days and music programs.”