Two years into new leadership and six months before a likely bond election, Tulsa Public Schools is showing off progress but still falling behind district goals.
When Superintendent Ebony Johnson stepped up to lead TPS in 2023, the district was in crisis — facing poor academic outcomes, financial scandals and a threatened state takeover. TPS says it’s turning things around, making small improvements in literacy, teacher retention and its relationship with the state.
Johnson outlined that growth in an extensive State of the District presentation to the board Monday night and news conference Tuesday, just in time for her team to present a bond package to the board next month.
“We can make progress, but we can’t sustain progress over time without being in lockstep partnership with our families,” Johnson said. “So we’re going to continue to work on that area.”
While Monday’s meeting was focused on the district’s progress, the board spent more than an hour behind closed doors evaluating Johnson’s performance as superintendent. They did not publicly share that evaluation Monday.
Small gains in statewide literacy tests, getting kids to school
In a state where reading and writing skills are dropping, TPS is slowly raising its English Language Arts test scores.
Oklahoma’s third through eighth graders take a series of tests annually through the Oklahoma State Testing Program. Their scores are ranked in four levels: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Last year, TPS students improved their ELA scores in every grade, except eighth.
Nearly 40% of third through fifth graders scored basic and above, up a few percentage points since 2023. Nearly 41% of middle school students scored basic and above, up about 2% since 2023. While improved, the district is still behind its literacy goals by nearly 8%.
“We’re increasing consistently in a state that is declining,” said Sean Berkstresser, chief of strategy and innovation at TPS. “And it’s still not fast enough improvement.”
TPS is also chipping away at the number of kids missing school. Chronic absenteeism, or students missing more than 10% of the school year, is one of the district’s “toughest metrics,” Johnson said.
Forty days into the school year, about 30% of TPS students are chronically absent — meaning 9,956 kids across all grade levels are consistently missing school. That’s a little less than last fall, but the district wants that number to be at least 5% lower.
For now, Johnson wants to “hold the line and not see an increase” as winter weather approaches. TPS is exploring new tactics like connecting students with more resources and holding families accountable when kids are absent, possibly by holding students back a grade.
Rebuilding state trust, teacher retention
For three years, former State Superintendent Ryan Walters routinely targeted TPS and threatened its accreditation. After working with Walters, and now his replacement Lindel Fields, Johnson says the relationship has improved.
The district had more than 100 “dings” on its accreditation under Walters, Johnson said, but now it’s less than three, and officials meet with the state department biweekly.
Fields, a TPS parent, has publicly celebrated TPS throughout his first three weeks on the job, and Johnson said he’s partially responsible for more teachers joining the district.
“They’re changing their professions from what they’re currently doing so that they can come in and be educators in our districts,” Johnson said of 17 adjunct teachers approved Monday.
Teacher vacancies are down from 147 this time last year to 34 this year. Most openings are in elementary and special education.
Bond support after financial crisis, loss of COVID-19 funds
The district’s $414 million 2021 bond package revamped school sites, brought new technology to the district and expanded STEM programs. The board has not yet approved a new bond package or set a specific date for when it will go before voters this spring.
In asking for support, the district must contend with the financial crisis under previous leadership. A February report from the state auditor’s office found a systemic lack of financial oversight and conflicts of interest involving leaders who oversaw bond funding between 2015 and 2023.
The district has adopted fraud prevention software in response, Johnson said, and overhauled its financial team.
“’I’m very active in ensuring that we have clear delineation between who’s responsible for what buckets of dollars and then making sure that our finance team is solely responsible over how all of the monies operate in our district,” she said.
TPS is also grappling with funding shortfalls since July.
This is the first fiscal year TPS will go without COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government. That’s an expected loss of $27 million in revenue going forward.
TPS also expects to lose $3.5 million in state funds because of a drop in student enrollment and about $1.2 million in child nutrition revenue because of cuts to its summer lunch program and a “sharp decline” in engagement with summer feeding programs.
The district is tightening the belt in the face of lost revenue. As of Sept. 30, it’s spent $10.95 million less than last year at the same time, partially due to reductions in salary and benefit costs.
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