A worker passes through a two-classroom space at Langston Hughes Elementary, June 26, 2014. The space was reinforced to serve as a storm shelter in the event of severe weather.

After officials with the Lawrence school district raised concerns, the city is holding off on requirements that would make school storm shelters safer.

City staff emailed district representatives “several weeks ago” about new storm shelter requirements that would make shelters safer in event of a tornado, according to a city memo. In response, Superintendent Rick Doll asked to discuss a possible city code amendment owing to “the potential high cost of designing and building storm shelters and/or safe rooms to meet the new (standards).”

While renovations at all 20 Lawrence schools as part of the $92.5 million bond issue include “hardened space” shelters with steel reinforcements and concrete ceilings, those spaces do not meet international or national FEMA-approved codes for storm shelters. Doll declined an interview with the Journal-World on Wednesday to discuss the topic, via district spokeswoman Julie Boyle.

“Dr. Doll said that since we have just learned that the city would be discussing this issue, we will need some time to review the new standards and their application to schools,” Boyle wrote in an email. “The district has included structurally enhanced storm sheltering areas in all of the schools receiving additions as part of the bond issue.”

A worker passes through a two-classroom space at Langston Hughes Elementary, June 26, 2014. The space was reinforced to serve as a storm shelter in the event of severe weather.

At issue is a requirement that storm shelters be designed and constructed to withstand winds of up to 250 MPH. The wind provision was put forth by the 2015 International Code Council and is in line with standards developed by the ICC in consultation with the National Storm Shelter Association and FEMA that were first published in 2008. The city’s current construction codes fall under the 2012 ICC series of codes, with local amendments, according to the memo.

City officials said the deferral is intended to be only temporary, in order to give those affected by the new codes time to figure out how changes can be implemented. In addition to the Lawrence public school district, private schools and critical emergency operations facilities such as police and fire stations would be affected and are also being deferred.

“That is a temporary measure to bring stakeholders together to discuss the best way to implement storm shelter requirements in the future,” said Barry Walthall, a building official with the city.

When asked whether a permanent city code exemption to the wind provision could still be an option, Walthall said nothing was ruled out at this point.

“Basically, there is nothing, as far as options, that is not up for discussion,” he said. “There are a lot of ways that this could be implemented. I don’t think anybody is advocating for shortchanging safety. I think it’s a matter of trying to figure out the logistics.”

In recent years, some nearby school districts have used grants to fund FEMA-approved storm shelters. Baldwin City, Eudora and the private Bishop Seabury Academy all used grant funds to build significant FEMA-approved, concrete-encased safe rooms at several of their facilities.

The new wind provision would not be retroactive, so it would only apply to facilities that were built or expanded after the adoption. The school district has several active construction projects, including Lawrence High School, Schwegler Elementary and Deerfield Elementary. Projects at Pinckney, Sunflower, Broken Arrow and Prairie Park elementaries are scheduled to begin this summer, and renovations to the six secondary schools are planned for upcoming years.

At the City Commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved a series of construction codes under the 2015 ICC. The storm shelter ordinance was deferred with the staff recommendation for three to six months of additional review and consideration of potential amendments.

Results and recommendations for any code amendments would be brought back to the City Commission for discussion and final action. Walthall said the review period will be a chance to hear input from all the various stakeholders the requirement would affect.

“Basically, to review the requirements and make sure it’s something that is done in a way that best serves the community,” he said.

Boyle said the district would not elaborate on the concerns raised by Doll or specifics of the review until staff had more time to study the requirement.

“Dr. Doll has nothing to add until our staff has time to review the new standards and their application to schools,” she said.