Bad Weather Policy and Procedures

Regardless of the situations, Cleveland Public Schools strives to provide a safe and secure school environment for our students. With severe weather season here, there may be times where we will need to take students to one of our many storm shelters.

When severe weather is in the forecast we actively monitor conditions using resources from the news media in Tulsa, the National Weather Service, and several weather applications. If conditions look like we will be impacted by high straight line winds or experience a tornadic event, we will move everyone on campus to a shelter.


Once we begin a sheltering response for events, including weather related emergencies, as well as hazardous materials emergencies, the school will be locked down and normal student check out will be suspended for the duration of the event to reduce risk to all building occupants. We will work hard to keep everyone as informed as possible before, during, and after a sheltering event by using the District’s messaging services, web page, and social media outlets as we can to keep everyone up to date of the districts status.

Here are a few important things to remember if and when a sheltering event occurs.

  • Normal administrative duties and office procedures, will be suspended while all employees give their attention to the safety of students and go to the shelters with them.
  • All outside doors will be locked to prevent unauthorized access.
  • Phones will not be answered.
  • Parents should seek shelter where they are and not come to campus until the weather event is over if that becomes necessary.
  • Once we begin sheltering, parents will be unable to check out their students but if they are in the building they will be allowed to shelter with the students and staff.


The priority for Cleveland Public Schools is the protection of the students, faculty and staff on campus.  Because of this, all personnel within the school system will be working to assist  students in moving to a place of safety and accommodating all student needs, assuring students are given the highest level of protection available.  This response will require our undivided attention. Normal administrative duties will be suspended while all employees give their attention to the protection students.

A photo of the exterior of the primary school's new storm shelter edition.
The new storm shelter at the Primary School was built as part of our most recent bond project. The Primary is just one of the buildings on campus with multiple shelters thanks to the support of the community.

Any person not a school employee who is already inside the school building once we begin to shelter will be given an opportunity to stay in the same areas of shelter as employees of the building.  All attempts will be made to keep visitors away from students during the shelter response.  Any visitor who wishes to leave may do so if they wish. 

Parents who are already inside the building when a response occurs will be encouraged to shelter with their student but will not be refused to be allowed to remove their child from the safety of the building.  But once a parent is inside the school building and they demand to leave with their child, we will allow it.
However, we strongly urge parents who are in this situation to STAY and NOT remove their child during an event requiring going to a shelter as doing so could cause both the parent and the student to be put into danger that could be avoided by staying INSIDE the shelter.