Woodward Latest School District to Consider Tornado Shelters Without State Help

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Another Oklahoma school district has decided not to wait for the federal and state governments to help it build tornado shelters.

At an Aug. 6 meeting, the Woodward School Board approved a $29 million bond issue, which voters will decide on in October. The Woodward News‘ Rachael Van Horn reports more than $24 million would be set aside for construction and renovations, including:

Construction of two additional safe rooms at all three elementary schools so that all students have access to FEMA standard shelter from a storm.

Construction of a multi-purpose safe room facility at the high school … [and] construction of a multi-purpose safe room facility … for the middle school.

The vote by the Woodward School Board came just one day after Edmond took similar action.

A late-night tornado struck Woodward in April 2012, causing EF3 damage and killing six people.

Oklahoma’s  safe room rebate program should get a funding boost because of this year’s deadly storms.  But as StateImpact found, the state’s priority is on providing shelters for individuals, not schools, though districts can apply for aid, and the program has helped 85 schools over the past decade.