FEMA grant fact sheet
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
> The total costs for construction of a FEMA-approved tornado safe room in the new Eudora elementary school is $755,569.
> The FEMA grant awarded 75 percent of the costs for construction of the shelter. Kansas Emergency Management is providing ten percent of the costs, and the district will pay the remaining 15 percent of the costs. Dollar commitments are:
* $566,677 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
* $75,557 from Kansas Emergency Management
* $113,335 from Eudora Schools
> The shelter will be large enough to accommodate every student and staff member in the building during the school day, estimated to be approximately 800 individuals at the time the school opens. Policies for community use of the shelter will be determined by the Eudora Board of Education at a later date.
> The grant was secured from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a joint effort between the school district and Douglas County Emergency Management. The proposal submitted last spring also required the city of Eudora to complete a formal crisis mitigation plan.
> The funding requires school district leaders to adhere to a number of ongoing expectations, including the development of a tornado emergency operations plan, the establishment of a safe room maintenance plan and the posting of additional signage throughout the building to direct occupants to the area.
> Construction of the facility will be done to specifications outlined in FEMA 361 guidelines. The safe room will be built in the commons portion of the new elementary school, on the south side of the building.
> The new elementary school in northeast Eudora will open in fall 2009 and is being built to accommodate all Eudora students in first through fifth grades. It is part of the bond passed by Eudora voters in November 2007. Information about the elementary school and other bond projects is available at www.eudoraschools.org/bond.
Read a news story about the grant here.
