Cactus Elementary builds tornado shelter in new school

CACTUS, Texas (KFDA) - The new state-of-the-art tornado shelter in the middle of Cactus Elementary School is where all 480 of their students will be able to escape should a storm happen.

“We’ve got a lot more technology integrated into the whole building. We’re really proud that we have a storm shelter that will house all of our students. Our old building, you know, the winds we’re having today can almost push it over. Just everything new, just move in ready, so that’s going to be nice,” said TJ Funderburg, Cactus Elementary principal.

In 2019, a $107 million bond was approved for three new elementary schools, two in Dumas and one in Cactus.

“They’ve needed a new school for 30 years. I mean it is, and so we’re so proud of the opportunity to get to bring this to these kids in that community finally. It’s, probably of any of them, it’s been a labor of love for all of us, you know, we really wanted to see this happen,” said Monty Hysinger, superintendent at Dumas ISD.

The goal is to provide a new and modern school while making it safe for all students.

“We want to be able to keep all of our kids safe. And just having that ability where you’re not just putting them in a closet or putting them in an area where you hope it will, you know, stand through something like that, we have this space that was built exactly for that purpose,” said Funderburg.

Teachers will start moving into school on May 6 and students will begin the fall school year at the new elementary.

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