Parental preferences associated with tornadic early dismissal decisions

With future scenarios indicating an uptick in the frequency of supercells in the Southeastern U.S., schools will likely see increased exposure to hazards like tornadoes. Understanding school severe weather decisions is vital to making more informed choices and preventing unnecessary risks to students, especially in an area with higher historical tornado fatality rates, substantial manufactured housing, and elevated social vulnerability. However, few studies have focused on weather-based early dismissals, and none have incorporated the caretaker’s perspective. Using an electronic survey, 500 parents across 10 tornado-prone states (i.e., AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MS, OK, SC, TN, and TX) were asked where they prefer their children to shelter for early dismissal situations in a hypothetical tornado. Most parents (~75%) preferred their children to return home for a hypothetical morning and afternoon dismissal situation. Based on multinomial logistic regression models, preferences for sending students home or keeping them in schools were significantly influenced by their confidence in school personnel, perceptions of residential and school infrastructure enduring tornado-force winds, if parents were home during school hours, if individuals had an alternate sheltering location, and assessments of school severe-weather communications.