Engineers hired by the Red Oak Independent School District verify a December NBC 5 report about construction flaws at tornado damaged Shields Elementary School.
The Dec. 26 tornado left the Glenn Heights school unusable for January classes.
Red Oak ISD Superintendent Scott Niven released a statement Thursday.
"The information the district now has suggests that the failure of some of these exterior walls may have been caused, at least in part, by the contractor and/or its subcontractor's failure to install the connecting fasteners in accordance with the approved specifications," the statement said.
The district engineer's concluded the building was properly designed in architectural specification but the size of the fasteners and manner of their installation deviated from shop drawings.
Engineer Tim Marshall, a tornado damage expert, identified the flaws in an interview with NBC 5 on Dec. 31, days after the tornado. Marshall was part of the initial National Weather Service inspection team at the damaged school.
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Marshall said he found segments of the wall had been nailed to concrete, without bolts or nuts that would securely fasten them.
"They're supposed to be bolted properly and anchored properly and they're supposed to be tied into other walls and the roof," Marshall said. "Especially in a school, you have people congregating there and kids congregating there. You don't want to have a wall falling in on the classroom."
Marshall said it was fortunate that the school was unoccupied at the time of the Saturday tornado.
The construction contractor, Ratliff Constructors, could not be reached for comment Thursday. The district statement was released after Ratliff offices had closed for the day.
The Red Oak ISD statement said Ratliff initially participated in the district investigation of the school damage but declined an invitation to a Jan. 19 meeting.
"The responsible parties will be held accountable," Niven said in the district statement.
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