Tulsa Public Schools board members showed support Monday for the district’s updated $600 million bond proposal, calling investments in career education and transportation “big wins.” They’ll vote next week whether to send it to voters in April.
In the three weeks since the district first previewed the bond package, the total ask increased by around $7 million to add elementary STEM education and new school buses to the district fleet as well as renovate Tulsa Transition Academy for special education students. For the most part, though, the package largely remains the same.
“I love seeing everything that’s here,” said Calvin Moniz, TPS board vice president.
Changes to the proposal were driven by community feedback through surveys and listening sessions, according to Sean Berkstresser, chief strategy officer at TPS. Of the 450 survey responses the district gathered this fall, TPS says the majority of responses requested items within the proposal.
There was “nearly universal agreement,” Berkstresser said, from the public in preparing students for college and career choices and addressing literacy and math skills early. Some of the added bond dollars would go toward a college and career resource center, described by Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson as a “one-stop-shop” for students and families. It would offer assistance with postsecondary applications, testing and certifications along with a closet of professional clothes for students to rent.
Many community members requested funding not permitted with a bond, like salary increases for teachers and additional mental health professionals.
“They’re the ones that make the difference for kids every single day,” Berkstresser said. “We cannot directly invest in salaries or routine operating expenses in the bond, but we can make sure that we’re investing, for example, in HR systems that make recruiting and hiring more efficient and a more consistent experience for people looking at our roles in TPS.”
Nancy Leonard, president of the Tulsa chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, tearfully pressed the board to “champion a living wage” for support staff at the district. AFT Local 6049 will press for wage increases in negotiations after the holiday break, she said.
“We cannot expect to retain passionate, reliable and experienced professionals if we do not compensate them fairly,” Leonard said. “They need to be treated fairly, to be able to not have to work three jobs.”
While the bond includes funding for a number of construction projects, Oklahoma State University graduate student Georgia Riggs asked TPS to consider “wildlife-friendly options” for windows and lighting. Riggs spoke to the board on behalf of the Tulsa Bird Collaborative.
“This bond, if approved, could present opportunities to make updates to our public schools that not only benefit our students, but consider birds and wildlife,” Riggs said.
The majority of board members expressed excitement about the package, but board member E’Lena Ashley asked the district to prepare an alternative “scaled-down version” of a bond package for consideration.
“We need all of these things. We need the drivers, we need the career-ready students,” Ashley, whose District 4 seat will also be on the April 7 ballot, said. “But, you know, I’m thinking, do we want to build great athletic facilities for kids that can’t read?”
Johnson noted the bond package would not raise property taxes and drew a comparison to Oklahoma City Public Schools.
“The last bond package that they passed was over $900 million, and we are a larger district than Oklahoma City, not by a whole lot, but we are larger,” Johnson said, adding that with inflation and increasing costs, the bond proposal is “sufficient and adequate.”
The final election resolution is still being finalized. On Friday, the community bond development committee will go over the package before the board puts it to a vote at a Dec. 16 special meeting.
Discussion was bookended by more bond action. The board voted unanimously to distribute around $40 million of funding this coming February from its 2021 bond package. That leaves just $4.9 million left of the district’s 2021 bond dollars as it looks ahead to 2026.
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