'She’s already connected to her school': Tulsa Public Schools addressed next steps in school closure proposal

TULSA, Okla — The Tulsa Public School District released a proposal several weeks ago saying that in order to save money and change up their budget, they may have to close 17 schools down.

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The district is hosting several listening sessions to speak with families about their concerns and try to answer any questions they may have.

Liubier Ledezma told 2 News she has a second grader at Springdale Elementary, not too far from Sequoyah Elementary.

She said while she understands the district is working to save money, she doesn’t understand how they’re going to do that if they haven’t made plans to sell any of the school buildings yet.

“The number of students already exists," she said. "It doesn’t matter if the school shuts down. The school that receives more kids will then end up paying more in costs for the new students.”

She said she's also worried about her daughter's well-being.

“She’s already connected to her school, in her heart, in her mind," said Ledezma. :She’s been there since Pre-K. So, changing her to another school will greatly affect her.”

While some of the guests were disappointed there was not an open-mic section during the meeting, families did have an opportunity to submit handwritten questions straight to Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson or type them up in the virtual Microsoft Teams chat.

Many of the questions had to do with transportation, what services would be offered in the proposed set-up and if people could fundraise to try to keep schools open- a question that made Dr. Johnson particularly emotional.

“Thank you to our families who will be willing to offer to support Tulsa Public Schools in this way," she said.

However, she said an immediate proposal is needed to bring forward to the board so the district doesn’t experience a “financial crisis.”

According to TPS, there were about 75 people that came to the in-person meeting at Sequoyah Hills Baptist Church and at least 40 participants on the teams virtual meeting.

It was also translated from Spanish to English.

According to Superintendent Johnson, students would be getting the same services as they are currently: including special education, dual or bilingual language programs.

She also said there has been some pre-planning done in order to try planning out bus routes for students needing help getting to school.

Routes should be known by next school year.

Several other listening sessions will be hosted this month:

• October 8 at the TPS Parent Resource Center
  
• October 12 at at Tulsa Central Library
  
• October 14 at Zarrow Regional Library

The board will officially vote on the proposal during their October 19 meeting.

Dr. Johnson emphasized that it is a public meeting and anyone is welcome to sit in.