Shawnee High School Students, Staff Return To Class Nearly 1 Month After Devastating Tornado

Students and staff at Shawnee High School will return to in-person learning on Monday.

Monday, May 15th 2023, 5:38 am

By: Addie Crawford

OKLAHOMA CITY -

Students and staff at Shawnee High School will return to in-person learning on Monday.

The switch comes almost a month after a tornado badly damaged the school building.

"We were able to get that to happen in working with everybody, but the main thing was making sure the campus was safe," said Superintendent Dr. April Grace.

After working with structural engineers, some areas will be fenced off and inaccessible for safety reasons.

The areas where students are allowed such as the main building, cafeteria, and choir room have been thoroughly inspected and deemed safe.

"All of those aspects will be open so there really isn't damage inside there other than maybe we had a few roof leaks here and there may be some ceiling tiles missing," said Dr. Grace.

Looking ahead to next school year, Dr. Grace says the Shawnee School District is pushing forward and has already started talks of what will be shifted and adjusted for this August.

Addie Crawford

Addie Crawford is a multimedia journalist for News 9. She joined the News 9 morning team in January of 2023 after interning and reporting part-time while studying at the University of Oklahoma. Addie has a passion for storytelling and loves to meet new people in the Oklahoma City community.