'It leaves a void': Tulsa Public Schools hosting meeting to further discuss possible closures

TULSA, Okla — On Wednesday, community members will gather at the Sequoyah Hills Baptist Church to talk more about the Tulsa Public School District's proposal to close 17 schools, including Sequoyah Elementary.

2 News spoke with Jeremy Rhodes, head pastor at the church.

He is helping to host the meeting at the church on October 7.

“We've watched as Sequoyah Elementary has just been trying to take one big step after another in creating a wonderful educational environment," he said. "Then bringing the standard up to where they're achieving new goals.”

Originally, the meeting was only going to be taking place virtually through Microsoft Teams, but the district decided to open it up for more people to show up in-person.

Sequoyah Elementary is known for having a significant dual language program with many families speaking English, Spanish or both.

It's why the meeting will also be translated in both languages so that families from different backgrounds can feel more comfortable discussing the future of the school.

“I know our church has also had lots of concern," he said. "When you take a pillar of the community away, which a school is, when you take that away, it leaves a void, and one of the voids is just the presence of that school itself. Sequoia is embedded inside of this neighborhood.”

Pastor Rhodes also said many people are concerned about safety, transportation and an overall community connection.

“If you close a facility that large for any period of time, and given the rest of what's in our community, it can become a magnet for vandalism, for homelessness, for other things," he said. "That's something that will really start dragging down the community.”

For anyone interested in attending the in-person meeting at the Sequoyah Hills Baptist Church, it’ll be kicking off in the church's Sanctuary starting at 5:30pm. While it is currently scheduled to end at 6:30, Pastor Rhodes said it can possibly go on for longer.

For the Microsoft Teams link, you can use this one, or visit the school district's page.