TULSA -- Families are settling into a new reality after the board of education at Tulsa Public Schools voted for consolidation Monday night.
Three elementary schools on the city's west side, including Park, Remington and ECDC-Porter, will close their doors to save the district money.
Casey Wheeler, whose eight-year-old nephew goes to Park, said he is taking the news of the closure pretty hard.
"I know he doesn't like the fact that it's closing because all of his friends are there. He's there. All his favorite teachers are there," Wheeler said.
"He doesn't really integrate well and take well to change," she added, "so I'm hoping he'll do well."
Under this decision, the students from those three schools will move to the Clinton Middle School campus. The kids currently going there would then go to Webster High School, which will house grades six through 12 next school year.
School leaders estimate these changes will create a savings of about $906,000. They said they chose to close and consolidate these schools in particular because of declining enrollment during the past few years.
Erica Taylor said she hopes the consolidation will not affect the learning environment that helped her 11-year-old daughter, Ashanti, thrive.
"My daughter has been straight-A honor roll for the last three years and perfect attendance," Taylor said. "I just don't know what to say because it's devastating news."
The board of education will meet next month to vote on even more budget cuts because the district is expecting a loss of more than $12 million in state funding.
