TPSD Superintendent, Parents, and Students react to Governor's announcement

Governor Tate Reeves announced school buildings will close, but school is not canceled.

Back to the classroom for the rest of the school year.

But the governor said that doesn't mean school is over.

Governor tate reeves announced that school buildings will remain closed but school is not canceled..

The decision shocked many people around the state especially parents and graduating seniors... w-t-v-a's kayla thompson spoke with folks about how they feel about the governor's decision... many people i spoke to today say they weren't expecting things to be like this but they feel the governor did what was best... "it was my hope and my intention to open schools back up on monday but honestly the data just don't justify that decision."

This afternoon governor reeves announced that school buildings will be closed and distance learning will continue... dr. rob picou the superintendent of tupelo public schools believes this was the best decision ..

"i know it was a very difficult decision and that's why it took so long to make, but i think overall for the safety and health of our students he made the right call."

The tupelo public school district has been implementing distance learning and dr. picou says they're working to make this accessible for everyone... "our teachers and principals have been working to provide distance learning opportunities to students while they're at home during this crisis.

We'll continue to do that work and try to have another round of handing out chrome books to students who need technology at home and finding out who has internet access and who doesn't that's a big factor and we're finding a significant gap.

Also, providing other learning opportunities at home.

" some parents say they are heartbroken that their seniors weren't able to have the full senior experience... "we did finish basketball, but we were looking forward to prom and graduation and talking to counselors face to face about college and visiting campuses."

Some graduating seniors say they're grateful for the time they did have... "even though the rest of my senior year did get taken away i'm glad i did get to live some of it.

And i did get to experience the senior experience... i didn't get all of it, but i'm glad i made it to be a senior because it could be a lot worse."

Dr. picou says recognized the impact this has had on seniors and won't allow them to walk away without some type of recognition... "we're going to do something and look at different options and get parent input the principal at the high school is working on that he's working on that.

We understand how important it is and there's going to be a significant recognition of our graduates this year because they've worked hard and they've earned it."

Tupelo school administators will meet about graduation some time next week... live in tupelo, kt wtva 9 news... tupelo school administators will meet about graduation some time next week... will meet about graduation some time next week... live in tupelo, kt wtva 9 news... with schools now officially done