HOMINY, Okla. — Some Hominy Public Schools parents say they aren't bucking down from advocating for the Bucks community after the school board voted last week to repurpose its Early Childhood Center.
"There has to be a different way," ECC parent Katherine Owens told 2 News Oklahoma. "A way that keeps our kids safe here in this town without closing down our newest and safest building for the littlest kids, the most vulnerable kids that we have."
Hominy Public Schools' ECC houses pre-k and kindergarten. Beginning in the 2026-27 school year however, students and faculty will move back to Horace Mann Elementary School with grades 1-5, despite getting the newer building in a 2011 bond vote. The ECC will convert to a staff and testing site.
Hominy schools enrollment, Superintendent Cory Campbell said, is almost half of what it was in 2011. He places blame in those numbers, anticipated lower state funding, a potential 20% cut in federal funding, and state voucher programs putting smaller districts' existences in jeopardy.
The elementary school consolidation is expected to save more than $200K yearly, he said, a better option than teacher layoffs and funding cuts.
"Long term, the educational instruction that their kids are not going to be compromised," Superintendent Campbell told 2 News. "Their safety is not going to be compromised. And we're still going to be able to offer them great quality education here in Hominy."
WATCH>>> Extended interview with Hominy superintendent explaining school consolidation
The decision to consolidate schools brought parents to braving the cold rain with protest signs facing Highway 99 outside the district's gym on May 19.
"It's only going to hurt enrollment more to close down our newest building," Kennady Myers said. "Our playground is not even a year old, and we're shutting down our building. It makes no sense."
Campbell said the door is still open for a return of classes at the Early Childhood Center in the coming years, but only if funding and enrollment goes back up.
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