High Cost Snarls New Building Code for Fla. Schools

By Cheryl Gamble

After Hurricane Andrew cut a swath through southeast Florida in 1992, state officials called for stronger construction standards so that all new schools in the state could double as hurricane shelters.

Three years and $50,000 later, a team of experts says it has come up with the optimum plan. But state education officials have yet to adopt the new building standards, largely because of concerns over costs.

Gov. Lawton Chiles established a review commission in 1992 to recommend changes in statewide planning for and response to hurricanes. Among the commission's recommendations were that building codes for school buildings be rewritten to ensure that new...