Luther School Superintendent Sheldon Buxton announced that school will be cancelled on Friday to accommodate the community who will gather to celebrate the lives of Ron and Kay Wilkson who died in a double murder on Sunday night.
The killer, Michael Vance, remains at large and is the subject of a wide-ranging manhunt. Safety concerns were priority, and Dr. Buxton said he made the call to cancel school.
Nine-weeks tests are easily rescheduled that were to be administered on Friday, he said. No one is thinking much about academics any way this week. He said there is a strong sense of preoccupation at school with Vance not in custody and the Wilkson’s horrific deaths.
Buxton said there is no other location large enough in the area to accommodate the expected crowd, and many funerals are held in the auditorium.
It’s been a hard week.But students, faculty and staff are not expected to come to school on Friday.
School Board member Steve Broudy applauded the decisions and notice that attendance has been down at school all week with concern about Vance, and also illness making the rounds.
There will be a football game at home against Meeker as planed on Friday night at Wilson Field.
Also on Friday, Josephine’s Cafe, where Kay was a longtime waitress (and everything else), will close from 1 – 4, and will reopen for dinner. Also, the 116 Farmstead, Market and Table downtown will close at 1pm on Friday out of respect for the Wilkson family.
You can bet there will be extraordinary safety precautions at Luther Auditorium at 2pm Friday with an intense law enforcement presence, and at the game as well.
