OKC District Recommends School Closings

[riflesforwatie]

http://newsok.com/okc-district-recom...rticle/5542383

"School board members and community members criticized the plan, which recommends closing Edgemere, Gatewood, F.D. Moon, Green Pastures and Johnson.

A sixth school, Northeast Academy for Health Sciences and Engineering Enterprise, would become a neighborhood middle school serving an estimated 563 students in grades 5-8, including 165 seventh- and eighth-graders from Douglass Mid-High."

[turnpup]

It'll be very interesting to see how this unfolds, both politically and from a practical standpoint (if it does indeed happen).

[bombermwc]

Hey, OKCPS is in the position now that they dont have the population to support the schools as spread out as they are....simple fact. There are going to be a lot of emotions with this, like there always are in these situations. But elementary schools are the first line of issues when it comes to size. They're more often than not, sized too small because people wanted neighborhood schools. If you dont have 500+ kids in an elementary school in a district this size, you are sized wrong. And the next step up, middle schools should combine at least two of those (preferably 3) into a single middle school, with a high school collecting at least 2 middle schools. Unfortunately, OKCPS is so spread out that it's not usually practical from a density standpoint. Northeast High is a good example of that. Really, the district would probably be better off removing itself from that section and having another district take that...Milwood seems the natural choice given the location. It's a historic structure, but it's been grossly ignored.

This is a problem that isn't going to go away either. As fewer children live in the OKCPS district (and more often than not, concentrate near certain high school areas), this is going to happen more.

[Zuplar]

Honestly, I think this is the right move. I think OKCPS finally has someone that is starting to get that this problem isn't just going to go away, and some tough decisions are going to have to be made.

[ljbab728]

This is a problem that isn't going to go away either. As fewer children live in the OKCPS district (and more often than not, concentrate near certain high school areas), this is going to happen more.

It's my understanding that the number of students in the OKCPS has continued to increase instead of being fewer. The issue seems to be where they are concentrated.

[corwin1968]

It's my understanding that the number of students in the OKCPS has continued to increase instead of being fewer. The issue seems to be where they are concentrated.

I don't know about the total number of students in the district but some of the schools on the SW side keep getting increasing numbers of students. It was realized that U.S. Grant High School, as plans for the new building were being finalized, wasn't big enough for the student population so another wing of classrooms was added and it was still too small when the new building opened. They've added a number of portables but the number of students keeps going up.

I have no direct experience with other areas of the district but I've heard there are many schools, particularly on the North side, that are running well under capacity. I think Zuplar is right and some tough decisions are going to have to be made.

[riflesforwatie]

The Oklahoman's editorial board took this stance on the proposal:

http://newsok.com/school-closings-to...rticle/5542675

[Zuplar]

OKCPS hasn't had a Superintendent willing to make the tough calls. Aurora Lora (which is an awesome name BTW) has really, IMO, shown that she can do that. I think she's on the right track and people are going to have to realize the only way to turn this district around is make some tough choices that will eventually be a net positive for kids.

[corwin1968]

The Oklahoman's editorial board took this stance on the proposal:

http://newsok.com/school-closings-to...rticle/5542675

The Jack Jennings quote in this article is spot on. Unfortunately, the second part seems to apply across the board to most of society's problems.

[riflesforwatie]

Update from The Oklahoman:

Closing schools could be hard sell for Oklahoma City school district

http://newsok.com/closing-schools-co...rticle/5543128

"The third community meeting will be at 5:30 Tuesday at Gatewood Elementary, 1821 NW 21. Another will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Edgemere Elementary, 3200 N Walker."

[Midtowner]

The trouble with closing these schools is that charters are simply going to pop up in these buildings taking even more money out of the school district. I don't really think the math works here.

[shawnw]

Also it seems like as more people move to the core into places like classen-ten-penn and JFK or what have you, that demand for schools in these areas will rise, so it's like we're shooting ourselves in the foot in a sense...

[riflesforwatie]

Update:

OKC’s Lora to offer plan to save $10M without closures

http://www.newsok.com/article/5543558

[Moore 1979]

As a former OKCPS teacher, there are a ton of things I could say needs to be done. But first and foremost is for the legislature to formulate a consistent and reliable way to fund public schools across the state. Folks outside the system don't realize how dire the situation is. Our legislature acts like lemmings, ready to go off the cliff as long as they can say they voted for a teacher raise.

[corwin1968]

Update:

OKC’s Lora to offer plan to save $10M without closures

http://www.newsok.com/article/5543558

Not mentioned in the article is that all staff cuts, both at schools and central office, will likely be attainable thru normal attrition, rather than letting people go. Hopefully it works out that way.

[stick47]

http://newsok.com/economics-professo...rticle/5531583

[traxx]

http://newsok.com/economics-professo...rticle/5531583

I can see this. Oklahoma and Oklahomans get bashed by people saying we don't care about education or teacher pay, but that's just not true. We're always talking about spending more on education and passing things like the lottery and talking about wanting to give teachers raises, but it's how the schools are run that's hamstringing us as a state when it comes to education. When more money does get voted for or when more money comes through with something like the lottery, instead of being efficient with the money or spending it on teacher pay or directly affecting the students' education, schools say, "Great. Now we can hire more staff." So we never see the increase in teacher pay or education funding that we think we should get. Perhaps not all of that staff is needed. Only some.

[Midtowner]

The last funding increase in education happened in 2003 with the lottery. You're really going to have to update your material. We're always talking about spending more, but we never follow through. In 2008, we were already near the bottom in education and we lead the nation in cuts.



Our schools are to the point where OKC schools is consolidating classrooms, facilities, laying off teachers. Many rural schools are on a 4 day school week. The system is at its breaking point.

[Bunty]

As a former OKCPS teacher, there are a ton of things I could say needs to be done. But first and foremost is for the legislature to formulate a consistent and reliable way to fund public schools across the state. Folks outside the system don't realize how dire the situation is. Our legislature acts like lemmings, ready to go off the cliff as long as they can say they voted for a teacher raise.

If Oklahoma voters really care about education, then they are simply going to have to somehow, someway develop the willpower to not elect legislators who believe an important goal of the state must be to gradually cut the income tax until it's all gone, and replace it with nothing. Keeping them in office will only make things worse. You said people don't realize how dire the situation is, but are they really going to get upset about it should their school system go to 4 days a week? Maybe ending the school's athletic programs would help. No more football games at the stadium.

[stick47]

Last funding increase I'm aware of is a $181,000,000 bond issue that Mustang voters passed in Feb this year. The article explains that non teaching staff increases alone could have given teachers a larger raise than they asked for.
Time to remove all these would be kingdom building administrators from our bureaucracies. IE: schools, churches, government.

[traxx]

Many rural schools are on a 4 day school week. The system is at its breaking point.

I know we've talked about this before, and I've posted about it before, but we've got too many small, rural districts.

This article is a couple of years old but still makes a point: http://newsok.com/article/5448167

Oklahoma needs to consolidate it's districts. I'm sure the parents and students of those districts that get shutdown would say it isn't fair, but it cost money to pay those superintendents, principles, and teachers as well as upkeep for the buildings, electricity etc. There shouldn't be districts with total enrollment of around 50 students or 80 students etc. I'm not sure where the cutoff should be but it should definitely be above 100. We're wasting money and resources. And what kind of education and experience can these students be getting in such small districts? They can't possibly get the whole school experience that students in larger districts get. They don't even have enough to field a 1 deep football team or baseball team.

[DoctorTaco]

I know we've talked about this before, and I've posted about it before, but we've got too many small, rural districts.

This article is a couple of years old but still makes a point: http://newsok.com/article/5448167

Oklahoma needs to consolidate it's districts. I'm sure the parents and students of those districts that get shutdown would say it isn't fair, but it cost money to pay those superintendents, principles, and teachers as well as upkeep for the buildings, electricity etc. There shouldn't be districts with total enrollment of around 50 students or 80 students etc. I'm not sure where the cutoff should be but it should definitely be above 100. We're wasting money and resources. And what kind of education and experience can these students be getting in such small districts? They can't possibly get the whole school experience that students in larger districts get. They don't even have enough to field a 1 deep football team or baseball team.

School district consolidation would not come close to closing the statewide education funding gap. Nonetheless it is not a bad idea. But seriously this is a red herring.

I am becoming convinced that the legislature keeps not doing this not only because of the political blowback from rural areas, but because the existence of the issue obscures the real matter, which is disinvestment in education.

[Zuplar]

I know we've talked about this before, and I've posted about it before, but we've got too many small, rural districts.

This article is a couple of years old but still makes a point: http://newsok.com/article/5448167

Oklahoma needs to consolidate it's districts. I'm sure the parents and students of those districts that get shutdown would say it isn't fair, but it cost money to pay those superintendents, principles, and teachers as well as upkeep for the buildings, electricity etc. There shouldn't be districts with total enrollment of around 50 students or 80 students etc. I'm not sure where the cutoff should be but it should definitely be above 100. We're wasting money and resources. And what kind of education and experience can these students be getting in such small districts? They can't possibly get the whole school experience that students in larger districts get. They don't even have enough to field a 1 deep football team or baseball team.

Yep how many other states in this country have only one district per county, several from what I've seen. All it does is eliminate admin, it's not like these schools would be losing their identity.

[DoctorTaco]

For reference, Salem Keizer school district in Oregon has 40,000 students and operating budget revenue of $677 Million. OKCPS has 46,000 students and a budget revenue of $402 Million.

You consolidate 50% of the rural school districts and you would not come close to bringing in the $277 Million difference between the two districts, and that is only OKCPS.

[traxx]

School district consolidation would not come close to closing the statewide education funding gap. Nonetheless it is not a bad idea. But seriously this is a red herring.

I am becoming convinced that the legislature keeps not doing this not only because of the political blowback from rural areas, but because the existence of the issue obscures the real matter, which is disinvestment in education.

I wasn't trying to say that it would close the funding gap. I just thought it was pertinent to what Midtowner had said. It may not fix it but it would help at least somewhat.