A new Arkansas-based corporation with ties to the Walton family — the owners of Walmart — will soon be the new landlord for five Tulsa charter schools.
The schools have operated out of Tulsa Public Schools-owned properties for years. But in an effort to cut costs, TPS put 11 properties up for surplus in October 2025 — including the home sites of Tulsa Honor Academy Middle School, Tulsa Legacy Charter School Upper Academy, College Bound Academy, Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences and KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory Middle School.
When bidding for the properties opened in February, those five schools launched a coordinated effort to bid on their home sites. Bids for adjoining parking lots at two sites failed at Monday night’s board meeting, but all building bids succeeded thanks to nearly $2.3 million in private support.
The TPS board voted 6-0 to approve the bids, with member E’Lena Ashley abstaining.
“We’ve poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that facility,” said Elsie Urueta Pollock, executive director of Tulsa Honor Academy. “To be able to permanently call it our home and then make it our own space is just really exciting.”
- Tulsa Honor Academy Middle School will stay at 209 S. Lakewood Ave., formerly Bell Primary School
- Tulsa Legacy Charter School Upper Academy will stay at 6001 N. Peoria Ave., formerly Cherokee Elementary School
- College Bound Academy will stay at 2525 S. 101st E. Ave., formerly Eastside Academy School, and at 1110 E. 45th Place, formerly Wright School
- Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences will stay at 1202 W. Easton St., formerly Roosevelt School
- KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory Middle School will stay at 1661 E. Virgin St., formerly Woods School
The charter schools will now lease from Tulsa Facilities, LLC, a new corporation based in Bentonville, Arkansas, with ties to Walton Enterprises, which supports the philanthropic efforts of the owners of Walmart and their family foundation. The LLC was filed with the Oklahoma Secretary of State March 18, two days after the bidding deadline for the TPS properties.
“We just have a good relationship with (Walton Enterprises), and they wanted to support us because they knew that this was a good investment for kids in Tulsa,” Pollock said.
Laura Fiemann, director of philanthropic real estate for Walton Enterprises, attended Monday night’s board meeting in association with Tulsa Facilities. Fiemann replied “right” when the Flyer asked if she was behind the LLC bidding on the properties, but she declined to comment on if her work with Tulsa Facilities is related to her employment at Walton Enterprises. The Walton Family Foundation has poured millions into charter school expansion across the United States.
When asked by the Flyer why the LLC is financially supporting Tulsa-area charters, Fiemann said her “broader group has interest in academic outcomes in Oklahoma,” but she was “not at liberty to say” who that group was.
The LLC lost the bid for an adjoining property used as Tulsa Honor Academy’s parking lot. The winning bid from Tulsa Habitat for Humanity was six times larger and included plans to turn the property into eight single-family homes. The board approved Habitat for Humanity’s bid 6-0, with Ashley abstaining.
College Bound Academy also lost its bid for an adjoining property shared with the Tulsa Ballet as a parking lot. The ballet’s $100,000 bid won out 6-0, with Ashley abstaining.
The scale of private support for charter school purchases is “uncommon” in Oklahoma, according to Barry Schmelzenbach, executive director at the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association. But so is the opportunity for so many schools to buy their home buildings at once, he said.
The center helped bring the five Tulsa schools together and secure private support through its charter school team.
“These schools are already your partners, they’ve proven to you time and time again that they’re worthy of your support,” said Eric Doss, director of quality charter services at the center. “They will continue to be your partners, but they’re just not going to be your tenants.”
The schools’ goals are to eventually own their home sites. According to Fiemann, each school will have a separate lease purchase agreement with Tulsa Facilities.
The TPS board also supported a $5,000 bid by the Tulsa City-County Library for property located at 4607 S. Madison Place and voted to put the Mark Twain school site at 541 S. 43rd W. Ave. up for private sale. While a bid was entered for the Greeley School site at 105 E. 63rd St. N., the board unanimously approved releasing Kevin Miles from the bid following what he described as an “urgent, family situation.”
TPS board President Susan Lamkin can now execute all approved bid contracts and complete the sales. If all sales are closed, the district stands to bring in $2.5 million, not including what it will save on annual maintenance costs.
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