In Moore, a way forward from devastation

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Moore Public Schools has come a long way in ensuring the safety of its students since an EF5 tornado tragically ended a May school day in 2013, Superintendent Robert Romines said during Friday’s JR/Now webinar.

“We’re so far ahead of where we were eight years ago, and I’m happy to say we are a trendsetter in that regard,” he said. “We have a lot of districts that lean on us and ask questions and we’re always happy to help.”

Romines – who was transitioning into the superintendent position when the May 20, 2013, tornado demolished two elementary schools, killing seven children – shared insights into school safety with Journal Record Interim Editor Joe Dowd and fellow panelists Dustin Horstkoetter, Moore schools’ director of security, and Tony Yanda, senior director at The Boldt Co.

Boldt built safe rooms at all the Moore schools that didn’t have one in 2013 and rebuilt Plaza Towers Elementary School on the same site where the children died.

Yanda said rebuilding the school so soon after the tragedy was emotional and required tough conversations to get it done in time for students to return in fall 2014. Having an established relationship with the district made it possible, he said.

Boldt recently had been awarded the contract to build South Lake Elementary School. The company shifted to rebuilding Plaza Towers first, using a lot of that design and floor plan, Yanda said. “We really had to dig down … and get it done.”

Romines agreed the relationship and trust was essential. “We wanted to build back bigger and stronger than what Plaza was before. Boldt helped us accomplish that.”

Community members wanted a memorial at the front of Plaza Towers. “Boldt worked so well with outside partners in helping to put that together,” Romines said. “When new people come up to that building … all they have to do is look and the story is told there.”

Moore’s 35 schools and 25,000 students are safe today because of the community’s support, he said.

In 2015, voters overwhelmingly approved a $209 million bond proposal that included building safe rooms in the 23 Moore schools that didn’t already have them. This May they approved the largest bond issue in the district’s history – for $338.7 million – which includes money for the security department to keep safety protocols state-of-the-art.

“These shelters are incredible. The peace of mind that that offers our patrons when they drop off their kindergartner or first-grader at school during those storm seasons, you can’t put a price on that,” security director Horstkoetter said. “They know we have the protocols in place to get them into those shelters quickly and they’re going to be protected.”

Every school has a shelter and a crisis team to plan how to provide the best safety and security for each campus. “How we do it so well is communication,” Horstkoetter said.

“We didn’t have this when the tornado came through in ’13, but we now have a districtwide communication system,” he said. “We can speak to administrators at each campus from here at the administration center. Those schools can speak to one another. It’s a great piece that we’ve put into place.”

It is backed up with a lot of training at the beginning of the year and throughout the year, he said.

“We’ve seen quite a trend of districts building more shelters and shelter spaces for their students,” Yanda said.

Today’s shelters are designed and constructed to meet International Code Council 500 – built to withstand an EF5 tornado. There are multiple options. All of Moore’s safe rooms are cast-in-place reinforced concrete, including a two-story shelter at Moore High School, he said.

The shelters usually are used as a gymnasium or additional classrooms, Yanda said. “You typically just can’t tell by driving by.”

When it comes to safety, businesses could take a lesson from schools.

“A lot of facilities are outdated, and they don’t really meet the security and safety protocol that’s needed in our day and age,” Yanda said. “There’s a lot of different options and a lot of different ways to do things.”

It’s important to get the right partner – one with knowledge and experience – who can recommend the best options for your facility, he said.