With 30 people signed up for public comment, the meeting lasted four and a half hours. Many of the commenters were staff members from schools on the chopping block.
Mitchell Elementary kindergarten teacher and alumnus Linda Jones-Sosa asked the board to consider the personal cost to the schools affected.
“It’s a family,” Linda Jones-Sosa. “It’s not just a school to us.”
According to the district, all of the school sites on the closure list housed fewer than 400 students, and less than 65% of their buildings were being used.
The district said 6,119 students at 21 schools do not have dedicated teachers for music and art. Superintendent Ebony Johnson said consolidation would allow full time fine arts teachers to serve more children.
Community members are concerned about increased class sizes, lengthy transportation times to new sites and potential job loss for staff.
State Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, complained she was frustrated with the district’s process for rolling out the closure plan, noting a lack of community input.
According to TPS, it held 50 community engagement sessions and received more than 2,200 responses to a fall budget survey.
The district says enrollment declines are to blame. While Tulsa’s population is growing, the number of children is declining. Schools draw funds from the state based on the number of students in attendance.
Jared Buswell, a member of the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, disputed the district’s characterization of a declining birth rate being the reason behind its enrollment decline. Buswell ran unsuccessfully for the TPS school board.
“Where are all these kids going?” he said. “Are the kids being taken out to homeschool or private school? No. The vast majority of these parents are driving children to surrounding school districts.”
To address the shortfall, $11.1 million would come from closing 14 elementary schools, two middle schools and one alternative school. The district is charged with finding $1.5 million in additional savings.
According to the district, the criteria for adding schools to the closure list were student enrollment, enrollment trends, building size and use, physical location of the building and a safe walking path to school.
TPS also used student outcomes, unique program offerings, student demographics and needs at each site as supporting data for its decision.
Jennettie Marshall, the Democratic nominee for state superintendent and a former TPS board member, called attention to the district’s closure of Gilcrease Elementary School in 2019. She said that caused teachers and families to leave the district and was concerned about a similar response now.
“We will lose students,” Marshall said. “We will lose our families. They will leave, and they will go to virtual schools. They will go into other districts. We will lose our teachers. What does this do for the economy of Tulsa? It impacts the economy, it impacts housing, it impacts the mental health of our community.”
The board voted 6-1 to accept the proposal. Board Vice President Calvin Moniz was the lone vote against.
“I really do believe that on paper, this proposal is probably the most plausible financial solution that’s available to the district,” he said before casting his vote. “But also sustainably, I believe that it requires execution. And I don’t feel that I have enough confidence that our systems and the coordination of the implementation, along with our bond commitments, the current operations of the district, and executing this plan can be done so to the best support of our students.”
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