In the aftermath of the events that happened last Thursday at Perry High School, the leader of the district shared his comments.

At a press conference on Friday, Perry Schools Superintendent Clark Wicks was proud of how the students and staff conducted themselves exactly how they practiced their ALICE training for an active shooter situation and then spent a moment about the actions of the High School Principal Dan Marburger, who was one of the injured individuals.

“Mr. Marburger, he was a hero. And I know that it helped the way that he approached that situation and it saved some lives. But I’ll also say this, not only with Mr. Marburger, but we had Mr. (Brad) Snowgren, associate principal, he did some actions that also saved lives. We’re very proud of the way they handled it, they’re heroes, along with Mr. Minke and Mr. Jesen, they were heroes.” 

Wicks announced that there would be no classes this week for the high school, whereas the elementary and middle schools can start as early as this Friday. He said the high school needed to be cleaned and repaired and they will continue to assess students and staff and may make changes to how much longer, if any, of the school buildings needed to be closed.

Heartland Area Education Agency Clinical Social Worker Stacy Warren says they provided immediate resources to staff on Thursday. Then on Friday, individuals with the Critical Incident Stress Management were with 80 Perry staff. Warren noted that from 10am-3pm, the AEA worked with local mental health providers and the Crisis Advocacy Team to staff and 213 students counseling. She had this to say to parents to be watchful of how their children are acting after an event like this happens.

“People grieve and respond to grief differently. What we really want to make sure that you’re paying attention to is if there are any behavioral changes. Make sure that you’re checking on your students. There’s lots of referral sources that we can get you to, to get you short-term and long-term care.” 

A monetary donation fund has been set up at Raccoon Valley Bank under the Perry School Foundation. Any other kind of a donation can be made by contacting Joyce Scott at joyce.scott@g.perry.k12.ia.us. Additional mental health resources can be found below.

• Crisis Intervention & Advocacy Center 24-Hour Helpline: 1-800-550-0004
• Your Life Iowa: 855-581-8111
• Text NAMI to 741-741