Decision set for today on when Perry classes will resume following school shootings
An announcement is planned Tuesday on when Perry students and staff will return to classrooms following the shootings there that took a sixth-grader's life.
At a School Board meeting Monday night, Schools Superintendent Clark Wicks confirmed it will be at least next week before classes resume at any of the district's schools.
Monday night’s meeting was a reflection of the tough decisions the district is having to make in the aftermath of the Jan. 4 shootings that claimed the life of Ahmir Jolliff, a sixth grader, when Dylan Butler, 17, opened fire during breakfast in the cafeteria shared by Perry's middle and high schools. Seven others, including the high school's principal, were wounded, and Butler committed suicide.
Several teachers were in attendance at Monday night’s meeting and joined Mandy Meyers, president of the Perry Education Association and an elementary special education teacher, in voicing concerns about potentially returning to the classroom too soon, both for them and their students.
An email had been sent to staff saying classes at the middle school would resume Thursday, but Wicks said it went out before a Thursday funeral for Ahmir was announced.
Wicks said daily announcements, including Tuesday's on when classes will resume, are being posted on the district’s website every day at 3 p.m. to improve communications.
Teachers' union chief praises administrators as heroes
Following the meeting, Meyers said she was pleased with the district’s decision to delay a return to the classrooms for now.
Wicks said district officials were meeting “what seems like 24 hours a day and we want to make things right.”
He said the magnitude of the shooting produced so many different variables and that his original decision to resume classes this week “was a starting point. Did I know what would be the best? Heavens, no.”
The timing of the return of classes to the high school had been “a big unknown,” he said, because of repairs that must be made. He said it was important to have them completed before students return so as to “not have any trigger points” in the building.
Despite her concerns, Meyers commended the school district and law enforcement officials for doing everything possible in the wake of the shootings, noting that while the official response time was listed at seven minutes, Perry police officers were on the scene within two or three minutes.
“We have heard numerous stories about the incident and as the investigation continues it has become clear already that there are many stories about how our staff and students and especially our administration stepped up and became heroes that day,” a tearful Meyers told the board.
The teachers' union head further credited the crisis training students and staff have received for saving lives.
“It (training) was a big factor in having as few of deaths as possible,” said Meyers.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dates for resumption of Perry classes to be announced Tuesday
