An outbreak of tornadoes that struck Beggs and Tulsa caused major damage to Beggs Middle School and Tulsa Tech's Peoria Campus, displacing students and leaving both districts to work on finding a path forward.
Beggs Middle School Principal Brandon Bookout and about 75 others were inside the school tornado shelter when the storm hit. When it passed, Bookout said what they saw outside was unlike anything they had expected.
WATCH: Green Country schools hit by weekend storms, now districts are deciding what's next:
"It was chaos," Bookout said.
"The yard in between the middle school and us, it looked like a bunch of lawn darts, just boards sticking in and out of it," Bookout said.
The tornado struck the middle school, bus barn, and baseball and softball fields. Classrooms, the gym, and the cafeteria sustained heavy roof damage. The district shut down a week before spring break to allow for restoration work.
"That if they had 2 weeks with nobody on campus, they could have us back up and running in some capacity, after spring break," Bookout said.
Previous Coverage>>>Families in Beggs adjusting as schools close due to tornado damage
Shards of glass from nearly all of the school's bus windows, blown out by the tornado, were left scattered across the campus. Most of the district's buses are electric, and when the storm destroyed the chargers, it also damaged the buses themselves. The district's remaining activity buses cannot run regular routes because they lack stop arms, leaving the district scrambling for transportation alternatives.
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"So we've had surrounding districts also reach out to us about maybe borrowing some buses. The Creek Nation has also talked about, maybe being able to get some buses and everything like that," Bookout said.
Beggs Public Schools was also given a $10,000 grant for fresh meat for the school. Unfortunately, the meat was lost due to the power outage.
About 40 miles north, Tulsa Tech's Peoria Campus was also damaged and closed this week. The school said students will remain at their high school for now, with a plan for after spring break expected by Friday.
Despite the damage, Bookout said the Beggs community has not been alone in the recovery effort.
"We've seen a large outreach from surrounding communities, want to come in and love us up, and we appreciate every bit of that," Bookout said.
The Beggs superintendent is also discussing options for making up missed school days with the Oklahoma Department of Education.
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