If Tulsans want a school district they can be proud of, Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson said Tuesday supporting the district’s $609 million bond package is necessary.
The package on the April 7 ballot is split into four propositions:
- $201 million for learning opportunities and career development
- $276 million for safe learning environments
- $105 million for student and staff technology
- $27.2 million for transportation
“This particular bond will allow us to provide resources across every single one of our schools, so our students can actually walk in and be proud of the classrooms,” Johnson said during a public forum co-hosted by the Tulsa Press Club and Tulsa Flyer.
Check out this map for a district-wide breakdown of who can vote on the bond.
Getting kids to school — and the driver’s seat
Taking questions from Flyer reporter Anna Colletto and Tulsa World reporter Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Johnson said TPS needs to add more vehicles so students are able to get to their internships, off-campus classes and extracurricular activities.
She said they’re also looking at bringing driver’s education back to classrooms — a request that came directly from student feedback.
“Our young people (were) saying, ‘Sounds great. You want us to do all these wonderful things, wish I could get there,’” Johnson said.
It’s hard to pre-plan what the driver’s ed program will look like, she said. But if the bond is approved, it would cover the cost of cars and any fees associated with getting a driver’s permit and taking the actual test.
Balancing technology, teacher recruitment
About $68 million is slated to be used for buying more iPads, Chromebooks and other classroom technology. Johnson said they are working to balance the need to integrate more tech into teaching with monitoring kids’ screen time.
School board members have been wondering “if there’s more opportunity for us to go back to the days of more traditional, stand up and actually teach at the board,” Johnson said. But in order to retain and recruit teachers, she acknowledged the district needs to be competitive in what they can offer.
“(Teachers) want to know that technology is on point,” she said. “The bond will allow us … to take teachers around to our sites and see we have newly renovated sites, we have beautiful buildings and we have amazing technology.”
Renovations on the horizon
More than 40% of funds set aside for learning environments would be put toward remodeling. That includes everything from foundation and paving repairs to new furniture and LED lighting replacement.
“We owe it to our taxpayers to have state-of-the-art facilities and to ensure that across all of our 77 sites, as well as some of our sites where our team members work,” Johnson said.
That means making sure schools — and employees — are working in “the best conditions possible.” She says they’re also looking at more parking lots at certain schools to reduce traffic congestion and people parking illegally.
Athletics and student absenteeism
A chunk of the bond, to the tune of $40 million, is planned for improving athletic facilities, providing new equipment and renovating fields.
Johnson said that could lead to more students participating in athletics and extracurricular activities, which tends to lead to better outcomes.
“One of the things we’re seeing in the data is that students who are a part of athletics and extracurricular activities … it’s life-changing for our young people to be a part of that and get their academics,” she said.
Johnson acknowledged the district has a chronic absenteeism problem, with thousands of students missing more than 10% of the school year. But she thinks the investment in athletics will pay off.
“We believe the dividends that would go into supporting that would render us increased student attendance, decrease in chronic absenteeism and increase in student achievement,” she said.
The bond package will be on the April 7 ballot, as will the District 4 and District 7 seats. The voter registration deadline is March 13, with early voting between April 2-3. For more information, check out the Flyer’s full voter guide.
