Poplar Bluff School District's uphill battle: Tornado recovery and the quest for normalcy

“Imagine dealing with a car accident times 11 million.”

That was Poplar Bluff R1 School District Superintendent Dr. Aaron Cornman’s description of what the past week has been like since a tornado wreaked havoc through the community, destroying the kindergarten center, damaging O’Neal Elementary, and forcing officials to find solutions amidst the wreckage.

The immediate solution is to move the students from the alternative school at Mark Twain to the middle school for grades 4-6. Three Rivers College has found space for alternative school grades 7-12. This will free up Mark Twain to serve kindergarten students once again.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the scope of the move will allow the district to restart classes by next week.

“We’ve been working all week to get back to school by Monday,” Cornman said at the monthly Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, “but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

He said the logistics of getting the alternative school moved, then preparing Mark Twain for kindergartners, as well as allowing the teachers to move in and be ready for students simply cannot be accomplished by the end of this weekend.

“We don’t want to do this halfway,” Cornman said. “I want this to be a place where our kids can feel safe.”

Cornman addressed the board at the beginning of the meeting instead of his usual spot at the end. He thanked all the personnel of the district, from the administrative staff to principals, teachers, students, board members, and the community as a whole for all the work they have put in to recover from the aftermath of the tornado.

“The most common question I’ve been asked is, ‘How are you doing?’” Cornman said. “Well, it’s not stress — it’s pressure, the pressure to make the right decision for the future.”

Eleven staff members in the district were directly affected by the storm in terms of either damage, destruction or loss of utility services. He estimated 770 students live in areas that were affected by the tornado.

Progress has been made in recovery. The Early Childhood Center, which is adjacent to the kindergarten center, is still operational. However, water service must be restored to the kindergarten kitchen, otherwise ECC will have to serve bag lunches to its students.

Repairs to the O’Neal Elementary roof are expected to be completed by Monday, and tables will be placed in the old gymnasium for the time being.

A temporary roof will be placed on the kindergarten center so that the remains of the building can be kept dry for cleanup, recovery, and structural assessment to see how much work it will take to restore the building.

During his regular report at the end of the meeting, Cornman said that he had spoken with Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe. He received assurances that all the days missed in the aftermath of the storm will be waived for attendance and will not need to be made up.

There was little else of note during the board meeting other than receiving regular reports and approving monthly expenses. In that area, Kelly Services was retained as the provider for substitute teachers for a one-year contract. Although Kelly was not the lowest bid, they were recommended so as to minimize further disruptions to school services.

The board also approved a bid from Central States Bus Sales, Inc. of $158,790 for a Type “C” 43-Passenger Wheelchair Accessible School Bus. The district plans to apply for a Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant that would provide a savings of up to $22,500.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Education will be Thursday, April 17 at 6 p.m.