OWASSO, Okla. — If the school board in Owasso passes the district's plan next month, roughly 1500 elementary school students will be making a change: about 30 percent of them. Multiple parents told 2 Works for You, this could have consequences.
Staff said to fill the new elementary school opening in August, it would be a domino effect to spread students out. But some said their school is why they live in their neighborhood.
"In relation to when we first were moving back to Owasso in my case the school that our kids were going to go to was a really important factor in where we chose to purchase a home," Barnes Elementary parent Rich Zamor said.
Parents brought up everything from home prices to student adjustment in Tuesday night's meeting. One family is worried about moving to a school they said has drastically lower test scores.
"We want to make sure it's not going to affect them and they have a harder time through middle school and college and of course affect their grades as we get higher and higher through. We want that base to be strong and we want to make sure they learn the things they need to learn from the get go," Barnes Elementary parent Aaron Forst said.
Others are feeling optimistic with a shorter commute.
"We currently pass three schools to get to his elementary school, and this is maybe half a mile, a mile, to our house," Ator Elementary parent Lesley Mahoney said.
Administrators said this was inevitable after a bond measure passed in 2017 to create Morrow Elementary.
"Owasso has been one of the largest growing, fastest growing communities in all of the state. So as that growth comes, so do students," Kerwin Koerner said.
There is another community forum on Thursday. The district will present this information to the board for final approval on March 11th.
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