BROSELEY — The Twin Rivers R-X school board discussed applying for FEMA funding to build a storm shelter on each of the three campuses.
Each campus will be submitted as a different project, which means they may not all get funded but the hope with applying that way is that at least some of the projects will be.
Superintendent Jeremy Siebert said the possibility has two potential benefits to the district; helping improve student safety and add a new facility on each campus.
“Obviously, safety is our number one concern,” he said.
The board is working with Felicity Ray with Ozark Foothill Regional Planning Commission in order to apply for a grant through the Missouri Division of Public Safety.
Ray said if the district is approved for any of the projects, there would be a 75-25 split on funding with the district needing to come up with the 25% — or the district can apply for a 90-10 funding split. However, any work besides the building itself and what is needed for it to be operational such as bathrooms would fall on the district fully.
Board members brought up looking at making the facilities either classrooms or cafeterias. Ray said the only condition for using the facilities for other activities is that in the case of a tornado warning or watch it would need to be able to be converted to a large, empty room.
For instance, if the facility were to be used as a cafeteria, the tables would need to either fold down from the walls so that they can be put up or part of the school’s action plan in case of emergency would need to include a specific person to put them away.
Ray said the shelters would need to be accessible to anybody within a two mile radius of the location and the room would require 5 square feet per person. She supplied the school board with an estimate of the number of people, the size of the building and cost for each.
Ray said the Fisk location would need to be able to serve about 875 people, which would require 4,375 square feet at an estimated cost of $984,375. Meanwhile, she said, Broseley would need to serve about 800 people, which would mean 4,000 square feet with an estimated cost of $900,000. She said Qulin would need to be the largest, serving about 900 people at 4,500 square feet and costing about $1.12 million.
The district has applied for one of these grants in 2017, specifically for the Broseley campus and was approved. It was also approved for a 90-10 funding split, which is granted to impoverished areas, Ray said. However, Siebert said a tax levy was not considered at that time to help the school district cover its portion of the cost.
The school board discussed looking into either raising the bond tax or a levy tax, but didn’t come to a conclusion about what should be done or when. Board President Billy Watson brought up the idea of not applying for one until the buildings are constructed and only apply that money for furnishing the facilities for their other uses. However, there was some hesitation with the idea since the district would need to supply its split of the building money before then.
Ray said she would write and send the letters of interest to the state in order to get the district in line for the funding and suggested the district start looking for an architect. The architect would help the district determine what else should be done with the facilities and develop a more precise cost for the full project. Her office will also look into eligibility for the 90-10 split.
_____
This story has been corrected to clarify information about the school district's last consideration of a FEMA grant.