The Perry Elementary School announced new drop-off and pick-up procedures Sunday in a letter sent to parents in the wake of an incident Thursday morning, when a parent allegedly assaulted school staff members in trying to force his way into the building.
According to the letter, beginning Monday, Sept. 9, the morning drop-off procedure will be the following:
- At 7:45 a.m. Mrs. Skeel and additional staff members will open the interior vestibule doors of the Perry Elementary School.
- Only students will be permitted into the building.
- Any parents needing to visit the nurse, speak to someone in the office or speak with a
translator will need to use the doorbell system to be given entry into the office.
New afternoon pick-up procedures also start Monday:
- All doors will remain locked, and older siblings and parents will need to meet their family outside of the Perry Elementary School by the flagpole or circle drive.
- Visitors needing to speak to the nurse, someone in the office or arriving for a meeting will need to use the doorbell system for entry into the office.
With Wednesday’s school shooting in Georgia echoing the January horrors in Perry and forming a grim subtext to Sunday’s letter, Perry Elementary School Principal Laura Skeel outlined the Thursday events and explained the rationale for the new rules.
“Given the events of our community and across the nation, we continue to review our procedures and reassess them as necessary,” Skeel said. “As an educator and as a mother, it is important for me to share what facts of the situation with you that I can, but I ask that you also understand that because it is an ongoing investigation with law enforcement and out of respect for those involved, I cannot share every detail.”
The Perry Elementary School also informed the community Thursday about that morning’s incident, writing on Facebook:
“This morning at Perry Elementary there was a domestic situation during drop off. The building was briefly placed on lockdown, and there was an increased police presence in the building. Thank you to our teachers, staff and Perry Police Department for keeping our students and school community safe. All school routines have returned to normal. If you have any questions, please contact the office.”
According to court records, shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday a Perry man, Trayon Louis-Allen Nash, 34, entered the school. He was immediately arrested by officers of the Perry Police Department and charged with two counts of assault and obstruction of emergency communication after he allegedly tried forcefully to enter a restricted area of the school and wrest his child from school staff members.
By 8:15 a.m. Thursday, two Perry Police Department patrol vehicles were visible at the school, and Skeel’s voice could be heard over the public-address system, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to an empty parking lot.
The Perry Elementary School educates about 780 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and also houses pre-K classes and the PACES before-and-after-school program.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
