Editorial: Still no outrage over school construction

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A story was published on the front page of The Journal Record’s Feb. 21 issues with the headline: “Deathtrap – Moore tornado debris reveals construction flaws, code violations.”

The story appeared after months of research. But it started with a simple conversation at the state Capitol. Chris Ramseyer, a University of Oklahoma engineering professor, was part of a team asked to explain what might have been done in the design and construction of the Briarwood and Plaza Towers schools that would have prevented the injuries and deaths that occurred May 20 when the buildings were destroyed by an EF5 tornado.

Ramseyer was at the Capitol Sept. 24 to tell legislators conducting an interim study about his early findings, which showed that Briarwood was not built right. He was personally outraged at what he saw: construction so shoddy there was little chance the building would protect its occupants.

The roomful of legislators sat glassy-eyed as Ramseyer presented the startling news. There was no moral outrage. No indignation that a firm would put young children in a substandard building on the bull’s-eye of Tornado Alley. Not a fist was pounded.

It would be reasonable to expect that school district superintendents and legislators throughout the state scrambled to inspect their buildings. It would not be a surprise to see State Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Barresi, embroiled in a heated re-election campaign, draw attention to her office with demands that all Oklahoma schools be immediately examined for similar flaws. It surely would be predictable that Moore Public Schools Superintendent Robert Romines would waste no time in inspecting Westmoore High School, which was designed and built by the same firm responsible for Briarwood. That defunct company, RGDC, left a trail of flawed buildings.

Tornado season in Oklahoma starts in about three weeks. Afternoon twisters will come barreling through the state, unremorseful as they destroy whatever might be in their paths. Children will be in school until late May, when tornado season begins to wind down.

Parents should demand inspection of their children’s schools. So should superintendents, and so should legislators.

Oklahomans cannot be expected to put their children in a box with only the hope that the walls were built right. The pupils’ safety is entrusted to the elected officials who are responsible for the public buildings built with taxpayer money.

Where are they?