Bond victory means all schools in Moore (Okla.) district will get safe rooms

A safe room to protect students and staff from tornadoes will be built at every school in the Moore (Okla.) district now that voters have approved a a $209 million bond request.

The Oklahoman reports that the proposal won the support of nearly 76 percent of those voting on Tuesday. The plan will place safe rooms in the 23 Moore schools that don't already have them.

Parents have been urging the district to build a safe room at every school since a devastating May 20, 2013, tornado killed seven schoolchildren and destroyed two elementary schools.

Neither of the schools--Plaza Towers and Briarwood--had safe rooms. Before 2013, only two campuses in Moore had safe rooms. Since the storm, the district has built shelter space at 10 additional schools, but needed to have voters approve Tuesday's bond request to provide the safe rooms at all campuses.

In addition to safe room construction, the bonds approved Tuesday will pay for technology and transportation upgrades and for additional classrooms, gymnasiums, media centers and instructional materials.