The dust has settled after a spate of tornadoes hammered five states from Feb. 29 to March 3, killing at least 38 people, causing millions in damage and displacing thousands from their homes and schools. After one hard-hit Southern Indiana school district lost three schools, officials there had to find new facilities where 1,200 students can finish the school year.
John Reed of West Clark Community Schools said the only thing that could prevent the kindergarten through 6th-grade students from returning to school Wednesday would be problems with their new bus routes. Classes will resume at a former parochial school in New Albany that has received donated school supplies for the dislocated students.
Originally these students were set to return to school Monday, March 19. Superintendent Monty Schneider outlined various options for the school board on March 8. He announced he had a “handshake agreement” to use the Graceland Christian School in New Albany for the elementary students. This school is located about 15 miles from Henryville, which translates into a 20- to 30-minute bus ride for the kids.
Schneider noted that classes would resume for Henryville’s junior high and high school students after the district’s March 26-30 break. The older students will not be returning to a typical school but to the brand-new Mid-America Science Park, located 10.5 miles from Henryville.
Schneider walked the board members and other attendees through the secondary students’ new bus route, providing directions and suggesting parents drive by and check out the office park.
“It’s going to be different than the school, but they’re going to take care of us,” Schneider said. “We feel like these are the best options to get our students back to school as soon as possible.”
Tough Decisions During Storms
The National Weather Service said the EF4 tornado that hit Henryville on Friday, March 2 packed 175-mph winds and stayed on the ground for more than 50 miles. The raging winds literally tore off the second story of the elementary school.
A school secretary said a bus left the city’s high school with 11 children that day, but the driver turned back after learning they were driving into the storm. These students hid under tables and desks at the school nurse’s office when the tornado hit, and no one was injured.
That Friday officials at different schools were forced to make difficult decisions, the Associated Press reported. In Piner, Ky., Principal Christi Jefferds pulled her elementary students off buses and had them ride out the storm at the school. Oldham County, Ky., school Superintendent Paul Upchurch sent his elementary students home but later wished he had held middle and high school students who were on buses when the storm hit.
Assistant Superintendent Reed said officials held the buses a few minutes after school but decided to let them go after an apparent break in the storm.
Drivers already on the road, like Tom Dietrich and Fran Munk, had to make snap decisions on how to protect their young passengers. Dietrich ended up ditching the bus with three students and finding shelter in a house’s crawl space. Munk had two older boys assist in bus evacuation and ordered all students not to walk but to run.
“It just blows my mind how we got home and got safe,” said Kayla Lory, one of Munk’s passengers.
