TULSA – Parents with students at Tulsa Public Schools are starting to worry about recent ideas Superintendent Deborah Gist suggested as a possible solution to expected state budget cuts.
In a letter and a video, Gist discusses possibilities to be considered as a resolution to coping with the expected 7 to 20 million cuts for next year.
Here are some of the possible ideas Gist mentioned in her letter and video.
- Reduction in administrative staff - Depending on the amount of cuts, the district could save up to $2.4 million.
- Four-day school week - This could generate $1.4 million in savings, but Gist points out the challenge this would create for parents, and its result in students being out of the classroom an additional day each week.
- Program reductions - Eliminating athletics would save $2.6 million. Eliminating fine arts would save $8.1 million.
- Increase class sizes - Gist says this is a "terrible option to consider," however increasing each class by four students would save the district $9.6 million.
- Transportation reductions - Eliminating transportation of students, excluding special education students, would net $8 million in savings. Gist points out the hardship this would create for parents, and the reduction would mean an increase in students' absences.
- Campus security elimination - This would save $3.5 million, but Gist argues "the need for campus security has never been higher."
2 Works for You spoke with parents lining up to take their children home Thursday and asked their opinions about the ideas Gist mentioned.
Most parents understand the upcoming hardships but they’re still worried about their children’s future.
For some parents, like Melissa Smith with three TPS students, would like to see the district start in another spot for cuts: administrative salaries.
"Maybe they need to look at what they're bringing in. If they can, make cuts there first before we are making cuts from our kids,” said Smith.
Shortening the school week to only four days is another concern for TPS parents.
Former TPS teacher Chiyaki Marks, who still picks up her nephew every day, said, “More money has to go to childcare instead. Where is that money going to come from? Because the parents can't afford it."
The idea to possibly cut athletic or fine art programs was a hard sell to parents with young children who have several years left in Tulsa Public Schools.
"[It] helps them become an individual person, having arts and being able to express themselves that way.”
Right now, no permanent decisions have been made, according to Gist. She says the video and letter were made public in an effort to be transparent about the current condition of the budget.
We created a poll Thursday and asked you to rank the ideas proposed in from most supported to least supported. As of Thursday around 5 p.m., the rankings showed that reducing administrative staffing was the most supported and reducing or eliminating campus security was the least supported idea.
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