A final report was issued Sunday on the distribution of the Perry School Recovery Fund for victims of the Jan. 4 shooting at the Perry High School. A three-person committee of custodial fund administrators was tasked in May with distributing the donated funds.
The committee was composed of retired Lutheran pastor the Rev. Louis Hoger, former Perry Public Library Director Donna Emmert and Perry City Council member Joseph Shelly. Hoger authored the final report:
As the administrator of the Perry School Recovery Fund, I want to say it was an honor to be selected and trusted with the task of “distributing the funds to the rightful owners” as the law states. I especially want to thank Joseph Shelly and Donna Emmert, who accepted my request to assist me in the process of interviewing those who applied and determining the distribution of the funds.
Our first distribution was to the family of the child who died, Ahmir Joliff. A total of $20,000 had been designated separately for that family, and that amount plus interest of $317.78 was allocated to that family.
Persons were asked to submit requests for a fund application, and many applications were received without a prior request. Some applications were from students, but we requested parental approval for an interview and required a parent to be present.
The criteria we chose were the physical harm and the trauma experienced. We understood how subjective this process would be, but it was the task before us.
Payments were distributed one to each household. A total of 20 applications were received, and all applicants received funds.
Near the time the distribution of the Recovery Fund began, the balance of the fund rose to around $160,000.
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- Payments of $30,000 were approved for four families. One of those was divided between two households.
- Payments of $5,000 were approved for three families.
- Payments of $2,000 were approved for six families and staff personnel.
- Payments of $1,850 were approved for seven families and staff.
I requested and was reimbursed $92.12 for the expenses incurred for correspondence, maintaining records and postage.
Approximately $100 had accrued above the allocations, and that was added to one fund family as a part of their allocation in order to deplete the fund.
All other information regarding the children, the families, interview processes and so forth will be held in confidence and not made available to the public.
The Perry School Board began in April to erect the legal structure needed to distribute the funds, which were held in custodial accounts at the Raccoon Valley Bank in Perry.
