School board withdraws saferoom FEMA grant

The Sallisaw School Board decided to withdraw from the Safe Room FEMA Grant as one of the items approved Monday night at its regular monthly meeting.

The $3.5 million bond for storm shelters was defeated last October by Sequoyah County for the second time. The bond issue also failed to pass on the March 2021 ballot. If Sequoyah County voters would have approved the bond, it would have paid for half of the construction of four storm shelters to be located at each of the schools in Sallisaw. FEMA was supplying the other half according to the resolution.

Sallisaw School Superintendent Randy Wood said at the time, the results were “disappointing but not a setback,” and the school would “move forward in doing its best for the students at Sallisaw.” Wood also said there was only a certain amount of time to get the bond passed. FEMA had extended the deadline for the second school bond election.

Following a report from the superintendent, the board approved all encumbrances, treasurer‚s report and activity fund reports.

In other business, Frank Sullivan made a motion to approve the ACT Assessment as the selection for assessment for Sallisaw Schools.

Other items approved were: -The 2022-23 Gifted Plan; -A resolution for the Sequoyah County Election Board for the annual school district election; -The district capacity for the second quarter; -Listed items to be declared surplus; -Facility use requests from the Sallisaw Takedown Club to use the high school gym from 6 a.m. to 12 noon on Dec. 3; and – The Athletic Emergency Plan for the 2022-23 school year.

They also approved the future use of the old high school auditorium and the old middle school cafeteria.