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DISASTERS

New petition planned for Oklahoma school shelters 1 year after tornado killed 7 students

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2011 file photo, Whitney Benfield takes questions from her first grade class about the new tornado shelters outside Irving Elementary in Joplin, Mo. For the second time since a tornado ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013, killing 24 people including seven students at the Plaza Towers Elementary School, organizers plan to circulate an initiative petition calling for a statewide vote to fund the construction of school storm shelters. (AP Photo/The Joplin Globe, Roger Nomer, File) (The Associated Press)

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    This May 21, 2013 file photo shows an aerial view of Plaza Towers Elementary School which was damaged during a May 20, 2013 tornado, in Moore, Oklahoma. For the second time since a tornado ravaged Moore, killing 24 people including seven students at Plaza Towers Elementary School, organizers plan to circulate an initiative petition calling for a statewide vote to fund the construction of school storm shelters. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File) (The Associated Press)

  • Oklahoma Tornado School
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    FILE This undated file handout photo provided by the Legg family shows Christopher Legg who died when a tornado struck Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., on May 20, 2013. For the second time since a tornado ravaged Moore, killing a total of 24 people, organizers plan to circulate an initiative petition calling for a statewide vote to fund the construction of school storm shelters. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Legg Family, File) (The Associated Press)

OKLAHOMA CITY – It's been a little more than a year since seven Oklahoma children were killed when massive tornado destroyed their school.

But their families and other advocates are no closer to the goal of building storm shelters in every Oklahoma public school.

Organizers this week will begin circulating their second initiative petition calling for a statewide vote to fund the construction after abandoning the first one because of significant changes made by the Oklahoma attorney general's office.

The new petition drive kicks off Wednesday at an event that the Rev. Jesse Jackson is scheduled to attend.

The community of Joplin, Missouri, moved quickly to build such shelters after the deadly May 2011 tornado. The federal government is paying 75 percent of the cost.