Collegiate School to begin virtual classes Wednesday, after St. Louis school shooting
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Public Schools announced on Thursday classes will resume virtually for Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience following a campus shooting last week.
The Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience and Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, where the shooting took place, are housed in the same building. Classes have been on hold for both schools since a former student entered the building the morning of Oct. 24, shooting and killing a student and teacher before being killed by police. The man used an AR-15- style rifle and had 600 rounds of ammunition.
Virtual classes will start Wednesday, and the school district is still determining when in-person learning will resume. There was minimal damage at Collegiate compared to CVPA, according to SLPS.
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Initially, school officials said they wanted the students at both high schools to return together.
However, SLPS Superintendent Kelvin Adams said Thursday that CSMB students could return as early as Nov. 14, depending on the timeline for repairs. After consulting with parents, students and the U.S. Department of Education officials, the goal is to have CSMB students back in the classroom as soon as possible, the school district said in a release.
“The health and wellbeing of our students comes first,” said Adams. “And with that in mind we are working closely with the principals of both CVPA and CSMB, and school counselors to determine the pace at which we provide support and initiate change.”
Monday will be used as a teacher preparation day. Tuesday will be a day off because it is Election Day. The school district said virtual instruction will be made available for the remainder of the semester to any students who are not comfortable returning in-person.
A full-time therapist will also be assigned to both schools, the district stated. Students and staff at both schools have been offered counseling through resources from the St. Louis community.
Classes for Central Visual and Performing Arts students are still on hiatus.
“We are allowing CVPA students time and space for healing this week,” Adams said. “We will continue to proceed slowly and let them guide us on the right time to return.”
The funeral for the CVPA student, Alexzandria Bell, 15, will take place on Saturday. The funeral and burial for teacher Jean Kuczka, 61, was Monday.
The fatal school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts School on Oct. 24 marked the 40th school shooting in the country this year, according to a tally by Education Week.
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