Tulsa Public Schools handily passed a $609 million bond package Tuesday with more than 80% support from voters in all four propositions. Superintendent Ebony Johnson says it’s a clear message the city is invested in its young people.
“We have 30,000 plus students, over 5,000 employees that we serve and all of our families and all of our communities — this is their win,” Johnson said at the district’s watch party at McNellie’s Pub in downtown. “We know that Tulsa cares for our young people, and they care for public education.”
Voters blew past the mandatory 60% threshold — and the support shown in the district’s last bond election — to pass all four bond propositions. Both elections saw around 17,000 votes cast with 72% support for the most recent bond issue in 2021.
Here are the results from Tuesday’s vote:
- Proposition 1: $201 million for learning opportunities and career development passed with 82% of the vote
- Proposition 2: $276 million for safe learning environments passed with 81% of the vote
- Proposition 3: $105 million for student and staff technology passed with 81% of the vote
- Proposition 4: $27.2 million for transportation passed with 81% of the vote
Amens, hell yeahs and cheers rippled through a crowd of TPS staff and supporters at the watch party as the votes rolled in. Among the attendees were Mayor Monroe Nichols, Tulsa Regional Chamber President Mike Neal, District 4 City Councilor Laura Bellis and Dr. Tiffany Crutcher.
“The people of Tulsa, Oklahoma, said: ‘We’re going to be different here,’” said Nichols. “What I see tonight is just saying press on the gas. Keep going. Tulsans care about their kids.”
At the same watch party, cheers erupted when news spread of sitting TPS District 4 board member E’Lena Ashley’s loss. Her opponent, former Tulsa City Councilor Connie Dodson, secured an early lead and won with a margin of 362 votes. Ashley won her first term by a margin of just 126.
“The district board deserves better. Tulsans deserve better. And at the end of the day, students deserve better,” said Board Vice President Calvin Moniz, who gave two thumbs up upon hearing about Dodson’s win. “I felt very confident Connie Dodson would win this election.”
Ashley consistently pushed against TPS administrators since joining the board in 2022, frequently dissenting or abstaining from board votes. Her multi-year lawsuit against the district over Johnson’s hiring cost TPS more than $550,000 in legal fees.
Despite the loss, Ashley said she felt grateful.
“I think that we ran a really good race,” she told the Flyer at her watch party. “We did the best because we tried to inform the community.”
Dodson ran as an alternative to Ashley’s often-controversial role on the school board.
“(My grandson) will be entering public schools about the time that this term is over and was a big motivator for running,” Dodson told the Flyer at her watch party. “Our current representative wasn’t, I think, doing Tulsa Public Schools justice.”
Board President Susan Lamkin won her District 7 re-election with a margin of more than 1,300 votes, beating challenger Michael Phillips handily.
“I think it really shows how much the community realizes my work on the board and the last four years — how far we have come,” Lamkin told the Flyer. “To be focused on our student outcomes and work hand in hand with the district for the future of Tulsa.”
Lamkin was first elected in 2022 by a margin of 382 votes. Phillips, a retired teacher, challenged her seat after mounting frustration with “little or no public discussion” by the TPS board, he said.
His criticism doesn’t lie with Johnson or district leadership, Phillips said, but with other board members who speak against Ashley and are “rubber stamps.”
“I wasn’t expecting to win, I wanted to do my best. We had to have somebody running,” Phillips told the Flyer. “I’m not bitter, I know that this is the way things work out.”
Other school board races included Tulsa Tech Office 7 with incumbent Jim W. Baker securing another term over challenger Matthew McAfee by a margin of nearly 400 votes. At Liberty Public Schools, Timothy Brown beat Linda Dany for the Office 1 seat by a margin of 40 votes. A dozen other Tulsa County school board races went uncontested.
Libby Hobbs contributed reporting to this article.
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