Michael Overall: In COVID pandemic, a little-noticed design detail could make some Tulsa schools better prepared than others

A year or so before construction started, teachers got a preview of architectural plans for a new Booker T. Washington High School. And some weren’t impressed by one particular detail.

The old building, built in 1950 and designed by the great Leon Senter, who had also been partly responsible for Will Rogers High School, had fallen into disrepair. And in the early 2000s, the Tulsa district wanted to replace it with a thoroughly modern facility, albeit while preserving parts of Senter’s art deco main entrance.

Some teachers, however, noticed what might have seemed like a trivial point. The new building’s windows were not going to open.

It’s not unusual in modern buildings for windows to be permanently sealed shut, officials explained at the time. They cost less and improve energy efficiency. Besides, who would want to open a window when the school was going to have a state-of-the-art ventilation system?

Well, they might still want to feel a cool breeze every once in a while, the teachers responded.

The most vocal advocates for changing the window design included state Rep. John Waldron’s then-girlfriend, now wife, Krista Baxter Waldron.

“She fought and she fought,” says Rep. Waldron, who was himself a teacher at Booker T. until he joined the Legislature in 2018. “I’m still proud of her.”

Besides providing fresh air, an open window can offer an escape route in case of a fire or active shooter, Waldron says. But beyond such practical considerations, windows can change how a room feels.

“How can we teach open-mindedness when we’re in this closed-up little space?” Waldron says. “In that way, the windows became symbolic. It was about creating the right kind of environment for learning.”

The teachers won. When the new Booker T. opened in 2003, each classroom had a window that could open. And now, with schools preparing to face the COVID-19 pandemic this fall, that capability seems more important than ever, Waldron said.

Last week, he teamed up with another former educator in the state House, Rep. Melissa Provenzano, to offer several recommendations for reopening schools safely, including that classrooms meet COVID ventilation guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines include increasing “circulation of outdoor air as much as possible, for example by opening windows and doors.”

Ironically, some older school buildings might meet the COVID standards more easily than newer ones, especially when “state-of-the-art” air systems don’t always work as advertised, Waldron said.

“The state really needs to get on this,” he says. “We’re not talking a lot about ventilation but we should be. Kids need fresh air.”

Now more than ever.

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