Back in nineteen ninety nine
we had a tornado hit at our Jefferson 
school site.

Kids were eating breakfast
when the tornado storm signals sounded

Fortunately no kids were hurt but   the... 
outbuilding that they were eating 
breakfast in was destroyed the 
permanent structure on site was not
damaged.

This was a wake-up call for us as
far as the potential for damage ...
to buildings, but especially a potential
for problem with safety for kids at 
elementary schools.

We created a partnership with Wichita 
public schools and FEMA the Safe Room 
that was built then the following year 
at Jefferson Elementary was that 
first FEMA Standard Safe Room ever built



As you know, we have a lot of tornadoes
in Wichita Kansas and especially in the
last few years there's been ... a lot of 
destruction relative to tornadoes. 

Greensburg Kansas is fairly close
to Wichita and of course that city as 
basically, totally leveled. 

So having a safe room in a school just
relieves the anxiety for our
principles, for teachers for parents

You could even just tell the 
difference... just to be at a facility where
there's a safe room

Just the anxiety level it's just so
lowered because everybody knows that they're going to be
safe in a storm.

Having these Safe Rooms  is critical in
our district for keeping... the kids of Wichita
safe

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Wichita Public Schools... 
recently passed a Bond Issue.

The very purpose of our bond issue was to
provide infrastructure, provide air
conditioning in our school. Originally we
hadn't planned on building Safe Rooms as
a part that that Bond Issue but because of... 
the timing of the Standard being written, 
because of the the timing of the... tornado
and then because we became
aware that FEMA did mitigation ... by
providing funds for schools, we further
at the partnership... beyond the
writing of the standard
and began building a number of Safe Rooms 
in our district that FEMA funded
Every single one of the Safe Rooms
that we have built have been 
new construction

At the elementary school level
We have… primarily Safe Rooms and 
multi-purpose rooms .
Multi-purpose rooms work very good for
Safe Rooms at an elementary level because

It is a large space and a space that ... doesn't require
windows. 

So at the Elementary
School level we have a large number of


Safe Rooms and multi-purpose rooms Our
multi-purpose friends are used for
Gym first of all for Physical Ed....


and also...


We’ll use those to set up cafeteria
tables and for a lunch room
And also since they're a large 
open room they're good for
...

... performances

you can get all of the student
body in a room and so they can have

Assemblies.

We have always used educational space
for the safe room so that they do have a
dual purpose they're always rooms that have 
primarily have an educational function
an educational purpose
and they also then are utilized at Safe
Rooms

All of our Safe Rooms have been new
Construction.

We haven't done any retrofits
that's out we were doing…

Bond Issues for the construction of
the square footage and then had
the opportunity to hardened those 
spaces so that we can have Safe Rooms

We try to put the shelters ...
as close as possible to the youngest
grade kids so that we can get them to the
shelter as quickly as possible.

At our middle school and high school
level out we're doing classroom

additions for Safe Rooms also

wrestling rooms at locations
where we're adding athletic facilities.

A wrestling room is a good space
for a shelter, because again

they're large open spaces without
windows required

My advice to a school board that's
considering putting in safe room 
is that it is very definitely worth the time
and the effort and the

Choice raise the funds
to provide Safe Rooms.

We have had so much... success with our
Bond Issues, the school environment is so

critical for education

to have and environment for kids to
learn and go to schools
is very critical
and even though it does take a lot of
time

To plan and it takes a lot of work
And a lot of extra effort

and a lot of funds to do the building
It's definitely worth

all of the effort for 

the kids.
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