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Board grants one-year variance allowing Taft Middle School to use corridors as temporary area-of-refuge
Summary
The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals granted a time-limited variance enabling Oklahoma City Public Schools to use existing corridors and restrooms as the "best available area of refuge" while a compliant storm shelter is completed; the board approved the variance 4-2 after an earlier tie and a successful motion to reconsider.
The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals voted 4-2 on Sept. 10 to grant Oklahoma City Public Schools a one-year time variance allowing Taft Middle School to use existing first-floor corridors and restrooms as the district's "best available area of refuge" while construction continues on a compliant ICC 500 storm shelter.
The variance covers the period after occupancy of phase 1 and extends through the 2026–2027 school year, with the board recording a target of an ICC 500–compliant storm shelter by 2027.
The request came from district representatives and the school's architects, who said the school will have a reduced student population during the construction phase. Tori Butzer of Butzer Architects and Evan Sack (architects for OKCPS) said the district will cap enrollment related to the construction phasing; they told the board that sixth-through-eighth grade enrollment before work began was 841 students, would be 541 after phase 1 completion, and that current on-campus enrollment was near 579 due to grade relocations. The architects said staff…
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