Mandatory school shelters a possibility

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

The May 20 tornado devastated the town of Moore, destroying two schools and claiming 24 lives. This disaster has begun a conversation on the safety of Oklahoma school children and teachers.

State Representative Joe Dorman began a petition to put a proposal up to a vote.  The petition needs to receive 160,000 signatures by Dec. 17 so that it can be put on the ballot. This movement, called “Take Shelter Oklahoma,” is spreading throughout the state to raise the required signatures. Representatives will be at events from the bedlam game to local high school football games in order to receive enough signatures.

“I see this issue as similar to an insurance policy,” Dorman said in an interview with the Oklahoma Gazette. “You hope you never have to use it, but you sure are glad you have it when catastrophe strikes.”

The proposal would require that each school raise a portion of the funds necessary to build a shelter with the state and federal government then match those funds. This solution is in an effort to build these shelters without the seeming necessity of raising taxes. The proposal would only use money already in the state’s budget from the existing franchise tax.

The proposal has faced little opposition other than questioning the price tag.

“This is not a Democrat-versus-Republican issue, or urban versus rural or local control versus state control,” Kathy Turner, chairwoman of Take Shelter Oklahoma said in a recent article in the Oklahoma Gazette. “This is a children’s issue. It’s about protecting our youngest citizens from a real threat that we all know. This is about taking care of our children in Oklahoma.”

More that 61 percent of Oklahoma schools do not have a storm shelter, according to a statewide survey.  That means that over 500,000 Oklahoma students and teachers are currently without shelters.

“I think [school shelters] are a definite need, but I’m not a fan of that plan because schools are already facing budget cuts as it is and they don’t really have any way to raise any money other than what they’re already using to educate the kids,” senior and student-teacher Stephen Reece said.

Governor Mary Fallin has said that she believes the final cost could be around $2 million dollars.

“I think that the idea is good, I’m just curious as to how they’re expected to get the money for it,” Reece said.

Oklahoma Christian University does not have a formal tornado shelter but does have it’s own inclement weather policy.

“Resident Directors are told by their advisor Judy Davis, usually a day or two before, to contact students and let them know that there is going to be inclement weather, that they need to be weather-wise and know what’s going on,” Phase 6 Resident Director Keith Musgrove said. “If there is a tornado we will go door-to-door as soon as we can to let students know what’s coming and encourage them to go to DAH auditorium or the PEC.”

On a college campus filled with legal adults, safety largely falls into the hands of the individual, unlike public elementary through high schools.

“We encourage, but its up to the students to decide to go,” Musgrove said. “We highly encourage and ask them if they know the risks if they decide not to go, but we can never force them.”

The university is already beginning to discuss the possibility of creating an on campus shelter.

“I know that – and this is just word of mouth – OC is looking into hopefully getting a shelter in the future,” Musgrove said. “The costs have gone up so obviously that’s a huge issue but it’s only a matter of time.”

The issue of tornado safety is not going away. This discussion will continue as long as there are storms in Oklahoma.

“It’s not a matter of if we’re going to have bad weather, it’s a matter of when and where the tornadoes will strike,” Turner said in the Oklahoma Gazette article. “It’s not a matter of if there’s going to be damage, it’s a matter of how much destruction, how many people injured, and how many people killed.”