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Edmond School Board of Education Meeting
The Edmond Board of Education Monday were updated about plans to utilize the school district’s storm shelters during inclement weather.
“We are moving into storm season,” said Superintendent Angela Grunewald. “And it just as a reminder, all of our school sites have storm shelters that can house the students that are assigned or that go to that building. But our schools are not public shelters. They're not open to the public. And schools communicate this with parents.”
Grunewald added that storms sometimes come during school hours.
“One of the things that we just have to be aware of is that weather comes in during the day and often it does come in at that three o'clock, four o'clock time,” she said. “And our elementary schools are still in session, and there comes a point where parents cannot check out their students anymore. If the people in the building need to seek shelter, the doors on those buildings will be locked and the people inside the building will go to shelter. We cannot expect someone to stay and continue to check out students when a tornado is coming and is coming down and then they need to be seeking shelter.”
Grunewald said the school district encourages parents to make plans to have their child picked up earlier in the day, if possible, when a severe storm is predicted.
“We encourage parents who want to check your child out, you need to do that well before the storm hits the area. Plus, you don't want to be out in your car when that is taking place,” she said. “And the last thing you want to do is to be caught out in a parking lot and can't get into the school and then can't get yourself to a safe place. So, the schools will communicate that. But we do want to just reiterate, we have shelters that are safe and we are proud of what our community has done to support that. And that's because of bonds that we have been able to provide that safety for our students.”
In other matters, the school board awarded the bid for Scissortail Phase 2 to Dowell- Pontikos Construction as Construction Manager with subcontractors in the amount of $8,598,678 to be paid from bond funds, and recognized Santa Fe High School business teacher Christy Flanigan as the Oklahoma DECA Sponsor of the Year.
“Christy Flanigan has been a teacher at Santa Fe High School since 2014,” said Santa Fe High School Principal Jason Hayes. “And during her time at our school, we've had tremendous growth and success with our program. And in recognition of that at the state conference in February, the Oklahoma DECA awarded Mrs. Flanigan the Impact Award for Advisor recognition, which is the Oklahoma DECA Advisor of the Year. We're very proud of her for that recognition and it's well deserved during her time at our school.”