Board deadlocks on Taft Middle School interim occupancy request; asks district for refuge square footage and emergency plan

The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals on July 9 considered BOAB202500001, an appeal by Oklahoma City Public Schools seeking to allow students to use a new academic wing at Taft Middle School while the project’s ICC 500 storm shelter is completed in a later construction phase. The board initially split 3–3 on a motion to permit interim occupancy using the school’s existing ‘‘best available area of refuge’’ and then voted to continue the case pending additional documentation.

Architect Evan Sack of Butser Architects described the bond-funded renovation and phasing plan, saying the district plans to open a new west academic wing in August 2026 and complete the ICC 500 shelter in phase 2 by August 2027. “The crux of what we're appealing and what we're asking today is that the board consider the interpretation of the language of the IEBC and IBC, for how we identify what that increase in intensity of use is defined,” Sack said, explaining the district intends to cap interim enrollment to seventh and eighth graders and that the interim on-site population would be about 541 students—down roughly 38 from present levels.

District interim operating officer Deborah Deck told the board the district monitors weather threats daily, cancels school when forecasts warrant, conducts mandatory drills and intends to finalize its emergency plans each year before classes start. “We have a safety department that goes to the meetings with the weather center,” Deck said. She described existing practice of using interior corridors and a basement as the campus’s current area of refuge and said the district would provide the detailed emergency action plan the board requested.

Staff and the fire marshal raised concerns about whether the existing basement and hallways can reliably accommodate the interim occupant load and whether those spaces meet ICC 500 structural and impact-resistance criteria. Scott (staff) said the required square footage for a shelter for the interim occupant load would be roughly 2,750 square feet. Oklahoma City Fire Marshal Mike Wilson said the office’s main concern was that phase 1 adds 36 classrooms without an ICC 500 shelter in place and asked for verification that the available refuge areas would safely fit the interim population. “Our biggest concern, obviously, is that the first phase is to build … 36 classrooms, and they won't have any shelters,” Wilson said.

A motion to allow a temporary certificate of occupancy for the one-year interim between completion of phase 1 and phase 2, using the historic areas of refuge, was made and seconded but failed on a 3–3 tie (tie vote defeated). The board then voted unanimously to continue the appeal and requested the school provide: (1) measured square footage of the existing basement spaces and interior corridors that would be relied on in phase 1, and (2) the district's emergency action plan and related documentation of drills and procedures.

The board’s continuation does not alter the permit status described by staff: phase 1 construction was allowed to begin under a permit that includes conditions on final occupancy tied to shelter completion. The district and the applicant team said they will supply the requested square-footage measurements and the emergency plan for the board’s next review.

If the board’s future review finds the submitted refuge square footage and operational procedures adequate, it could change the board’s position; if not, the board may require further mitigation or deny interim occupancy. The case will return to the board for consideration when the requested materials have been submitted and reviewed.