Arkansas Town Installs Safe Rooms in All Classrooms

A school district in a small Arkansas city has installed steel safe rooms in every classroom.

KTHV television station reports that installing the safe rooms cost Quitman Public Schools almost $1 million. The safe rooms can withstand the force of tornadoes in addition to handgun and shotgun rounds.

Fifty-three safe rooms were installed across campus, including larger ones in the cafeteria and gymnasium.

Superintendent Dennis Truxler says he wanted to “take the best measures possible” to “protect as many as I could.”

Parent Susan Johnson says the safe rooms are reassuring to her. She says, “There’s somewhere they can get and be safe whether it’s a tornado or a shooter.”

Quitman, which has a population of about 800 people, is located about 60 miles north of Little Rock.