Protecting our children should be a top priority for every community. Schools were once a sanctuary for precocious youth acquiring the necessary life skills for a successful transition from youthful dalliances to the maturity of adulthood. Unfortunately, these hallowed halls have become mired with persistent threats of violence and chaotic weather. With an uptick in severe weather and classroom violence besieging America’s education system, communities must become proactive in safeguarding their most vulnerable populations. Heeding the warnings of a perilous world tilting to destructive inclinations and propensities for mayhem, Astec Charter School in Oklahoma City recently partnered with U.S. Hazmat Rentals by leasing four charter school tornado shelters for the upcoming school year.
A Refusal to Live in Fear With a Steel Refuge
Charter schools offer several advantages over public schools with a smaller student body enhancing a hyperfocused student-to-teacher ratio. Charter schools are more inclusive and accommodating to students with specialized education plans that are deemed “disruptive” in traditional settings. Although conventional schools, seemingly flushed with community-centric resources, will boast of superior control parameters for monitoring unruly behavior, statistics reveal a different lesson plan. Traditional public schools had higher actual rates of both reported crime and violent crime in schools than did charter schools. The numbers don’t lie. Charter schools are safer than traditional schools, but that doesn’t mean danger from natural weather phenomena abates for human safety endeavors.
While you might have your children’s best interest at heart in enrolling them in more adaptive educational settings, all of these intrinsic and intuitive provisions could be for naught if your child’s school is ill-prepared to handle unforeseen circumstances, like severe weather and deranged shooters bent on violence. School shootings are on the rise and the growing frequency of tornadoes is unrelenting. In 2013, a massive EF5 tornado demolished a school in Moore, OK, killing seven students. In a cruel twist of fate, the tornado struck at 2:45 p.m., just before the final bell rang, which could’ve been a saving grace for students retreating to the safety of home.
Bullying Tornadoes and Schools: A Dark American Legacy of Destruction
Below is a list of some of America’s deadliest school tornado events. We provide these grim statistics not for fear-mongering, but to emphasize a growing threat to America’s vulnerable education centers. Travesties such as these could’ve been averted had school officials exhibited the foresight in safeguarding children. While nascent rapid advancements in steel technology precluded protection for earlier events, today’s school systems have the benefit of precedent in studying and evaluating safety and superior steel options in shielding students from Mother Nature’s most notorious events. U.S. Hazmat Rentals school tornado shelters can prevent tragedy.
- May 11, 1886: Kansas City, MO. Deaths: 15.
- January 4, 1917: Vireton, OK. Deaths: 16.
- March 18, 1925: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana (Nine Schools). Deaths: 69.
- November 9, 1926: La Plata, Maryland. Deaths: 14.
- February 1, 1955: Commerce Landing, Mississippi. Deaths: 23.
- April 21, 1967: Belivdere, Illinois: Deaths: 13.
- May 20, 2013: Moore, OK. Deaths: 7.
Charter School Tornado Shelters Save Lives
Noticing the disturbing trend of unpredictable weather patterns, Astec Charter School took a more proactive approach to superior tornado protection. Although tornadoes will always be a variable beyond parental control, education leaders can put safeguards in place to increase the likelihood of survival when faced with impending destruction. Our astute building advisors carefully evaluated the school’s needs while considering ergonomics and refusing to sacrifice functionality for the optics of four onsite massive tornado shelters alluding to the perilous times we live in. School shootings and destructive tornadoes never make for pleasant parent-teacher conference discussions, but the alternative of testing fate and infamy is more a morbid curiosity that makes declining test scores the fodder of child’s play.
To prepare for the pending arrival of the four large charter school tornado shelters, officials cleared a small tract of land located behind the Astec Charter School. Such a conspicuous locale ensures a quick and orderly transit for students from the nearby school to the steel sanctuary of the community shelters, which can accommodate large student bodies, teachers, and staff during tornadoes. No need for the old duck-and-cover in the hallway for these kids – they have a superior steel fortress at their disposal next to the playground!
Streamlined Installation Without Sacrificing Strength in Protection
Constructed from solid 1/4″ plate steel, these customizable safe rooms and shelters meet all federal specifications and are certified by Texas Tech National Wind Institute in strict accordance with FEMA 320 (2014), FEMA 361 (2015), and ICC-500 (2014) standards for the wind-rated impact of 250 mph ground speed tornado events. Despite a gargantuan profile, our commercial tornado shelters can be easily and quickly installed in any commercial or public setting, including schools, factories, warehouses, parks, arenas, retail stores, civic centers, and more. We transported the charter school tornado shelters from our North Carolina factory by flatbed truck to the school in Oklahoma City where a crane carefully unloaded the structures to the ground. Instal crews used several sturdy steel helix chains to secure augars firmly placed into the ground, ensuring the shelters’ unflinching resolve in protecting students from strong storms and wind-driven debris and projectiles.
Our community tornado shelters define turnkey installation. The prefabricated solid weld superstructures do not require additional assembly and can be easily retrofitted for any workflow process. Crews can easily remove steel anchoring before relocating the structures to another area on the premises, ensuring lasting protection for any environmental dynamic. Although certain workforces and industries require a permanent steel solution, our charter school tornado shelter rentals are great for education centers only requiring protection for short-term durations. Our shelters are also customizable. Our skilled engineers can incorporate optional features like bathrooms and privacy partition walls into schematics before your approval and factory fabrication. We will keep you abreast of any changes in the design process, ensuring your shelters meet all state and federal requirements for your protected demographic.
