Barnsdall Public Schools To Build Tornado Shelter

Elementary students in Barnsdall are about to have a FEMA rated safe room to use if severe weather hits. 

"This is a 1959 yearbook and this is the original concession stand structure,” said Superintendent Jeff Lay.

The Barnsdall concession stand is a part of that history. Lay says it's been towering over the football field about 50 years now.

"A lot of the people who graduated from Barnsdall and come to a football game that is what they see- that is what they associate with a lot of great memories that they spent here at this football field," said Lay.

As sweet as those memories are for so many people, Lay says improvements need to be made. He says the gravel parking lots and steep staircases make it tough for some people who use wheelchairs to get around. Lay says Emergency Management also found there weren't enough tornado safe spaces.

"We do have a safe place within our high school building for students...but they could not find any safe place within the elementary," said Lay.

Lay has been Superintendent since July of 2017. He says anytime severe weather hits the elementary school would fit the students and teachers into a hallway. He says it wasn't until last fall that they started moving those groups into the bathrooms in the building.

Thanks to money from a bond issue passed last April - the district is starting several projects including rebuilding a new and improved concession stand- which will also double as a FEMA rated tornado shelter. If severe weather hits during the school day or during Friday night games - the district will be prepared. The superintendent says it wouldn't be possible without community support.

"Barnsdall was first called Bigheart and it absolutely describes the people in this community. They have a big heart- they love their school and it’s the people who are providing these things for our students," said Lay.