Saturday, May 13, 2000

Hurricane shelters receive state grant


HERALD STAFF REPORT



MANATEE - With hurricane season just around the corner, the Manatee County School District received a grant from the state's Department of Community Affairs to retrofit six schools that are used for shelters.

The nearly $160,000 will be used to reinforce and upgrade windows at Bashaw, Sea Breeze and Witt elementary schools and Johnson, Haile and Harllee middle schools.

Preliminary results from an ongoing statewide survey of public shelters in April revealed that at least four of Manatee County's 22 shelters would be disqualified because of structural deficiencies. The problems are with the school shelters and other buildings built before 1989 tend to not meet the state's stricter standards, said Laurie Feagans, emergency management chief for the county.

Of the three new schools currently under construction in Manatee County, Lee and Lincoln middle schools will need shuttering to meet the criteria, while Rowlett Elementary is fully qualified, Feagans said.

The board will discuss this grant at its 7 p.m. Monday meeting at the school administration building, 215 Manatee Ave. W. Prior to the meeting, board members will begin school budget discussions at a scheduled 5:45 p.m. workshop.




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