School seeks $3.85M bond for cafeteria, shelter

SHAWNEE, Okla. — A major addition and remodel are on the February ballot for Grove School.

The school is aiming to pass two bond proposals totaling $3.85 million. Superintendent Sheril Payne expressed the funds would benefit multiple endeavors.

“That’s in order to provide additional classroom space, a new cafeteria and to upgrade our student transportation with the purchase of a new bus,” she said.

The new 9,400-square-foot cafeteria would also provide a compound of benefits.

“It would serve as a cafeteria, storm safe facility and a fine arts performance facility,” Payne detailed.

The school, she continued, is running out of safe rooms for its pre-K through eighth grade students. Enrollment is currently 461, an 11 percent increase from the previous year.

In 2007, Grove’s building expanded with a hallway that includes restrooms doubling as safe rooms. Other safe rooms are scattered throughout the school. The locker room offers shelter to many students, while band practice rooms specially serve as safe havens to the school’s 60 pre-K students.

“Every time we’ve passed a bond issue and done a building addition, we’ve put safe rooms in it,” Payne said.

The new dome-shaped cafeteria, the superintendent said, would be able to withstand F4 and F5 tornadoes.

“This is modeled after the cafeteria storm safe facility Dale [Public Schools] built,” Payne detailed.