May 8, 2024
Dear Pirate Families,
With the potential of severe weather today - including large hail, high winds, and the possibility of tornadoes – we wanted to remind you of the safety measures that District 32 has put in place for threatening weather.
First, we have two FEMA shelters on campus that are designed to withstand a direct hit from an EF-5 tornado. One shelter serves the primary and elementary schools (Grades PK-5), and the other serves the middle and high schools (Grades 6-12). With enough warning, we can get every student and staff member on campus into the nearest shelter. Each of our schools practices going to the shelter during the first week of every school year, and we hold two surprise tornado drills during the year. In the event that we do not have enough advance warning to move students and staff from outlying buildings (for instance, the Old Senior High School and the Career Center), we move to designated storm shelter areas within those buildings.
Our emergency plan also addresses severe weather during the morning and afternoon commute, as you saw yesterday when we delayed school by one hour to allow the tornado watch to expire before we sent school buses on their way to pick up students. We have also delayed releasing students when Perry County is under a tornado watch or severe thunderstorm warning during dismissal and the afternoon commute. That is a possibility today, depending on the timing of the forecasted storm’s arrival.
If severe weather develops this evening, there may be event cancelations. As always, that information will be communicated to your students by their teachers or coaches.
Safety Director Garrett Schott is closely monitoring the situation today, and the administrative team is preparing for any potential impact to our campus and our commute. We will keep you informed as the situation develops. There are a few things families can do to help:
· Please check your email and texts if severe weather develops. You may be asked to pick your children up at a different time or in a different location than normal if we must move to the tornado shelters.
· If your children reach out because they are afraid of the weather, remind them that there is no place safer for them to be than in the school’s shelters.
· Please be patient and give grace if school buses are delayed due to local flash flooding or other road conditions this afternoon. If necessary, we will communicate that information in as timely a manner as possible.
· Please review the attached information about storm preparedness from the National Weather Service to help keep your family safe during severe weather.
Finally, I join our administrators, board, and staff in expressing gratitude to our taxpayers for providing the financial resources to construct the FEMA storm shelters on our campus. Thankfully, we don’t need them often, but they offer us all peace in knowing that our children and staff will be safe even if the worst happens.
Dr. Fara Jones
National Weather Service information issued earlier this morning:
