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The school was closed earlier this month after an independent report showed excessive levels of radioactive materials in dust and dirt samples taken in August from the campus.

After Thanksgiving break, the school’s 375 students in kindergarten through fifth grade will be reassigned to Barrington, Brown, Coldwater, McCurdy or Walker elementaries. They will be provided transportation, if needed.

About 100 residents came to the meeting Thursday at Hazelwood Central High for a question-and-answer session with school district officials. Families said they were frustrated by the district’s decision to split up the students and staff.

“We have a group of policymakers for education who are just not listening to parents,” said Jana PTA president Ashley Bernaugh. “Our kids have really only gone to school together. The majority of their lives have only been at Jana with the people at Jana.”

Students started virtual learning from home on Monday. Families with child care hardships may be able to expedite their transfers to the new schools, Hazelwood officials said. Jana’s two classrooms of preschool students have already transferred to Barrington Elementary less than 3 miles away.

“This is not a decision that we wanted to make,” said Cheryl Latham, Hazelwood School Board secretary, at the meeting Thursday. “We’re dealing with what happened to our community. Yes we want to address the needs of Jana, but we have a charge to govern with the best interests of our entire district in mind.”

Families have pleaded with district leaders to instead move students to an alternative location, such as the school district’s Opportunity Center on Dunn Road. Parents had also toured the St. Angela Merici school in Florissant, which closed in 2017.

The Opportunity Center, about 10 miles from Jana, would pose transportation challenges and private property was a non-starter, district officials said.

“Being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, we cannot justify the use of public funds for private or religious schools. We have available resources and space for our students in our own quality elementary schools,” reads a message to families sent Thursday.

On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed its week of testing inside the Jana school building, which included scanning surfaces for radiation. Soil sampling from at least 45 spots around the campus started Wednesday and will continue for about two more weeks depending on weather. Inspectors will test the soil to at least 15 feet below ground.

Preliminary test results are expected within the next two weeks following a peer review by the U.S. Department of Energy. Another round of testing recommended by the school district’s insurance company is also ongoing, Hazelwood officials said.

The school, which opened in 1970 at 405 Jana Drive, sits in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek. The creek was contaminated with radioactive waste starting in the 1940s from the storage of residue from atomic weapons production.