OKCPS to Possibly Close up to 20 Schools

[Midtowner]

OKCPS has been looking at their current operations since the new Superintendent joined them. Currently, their school buildings are underutilized and many are in deficient states of repair. News reporting released today indicates that as many as 20 sites are being looked at for permanent closure. No list has yet been released.

[Midtowner]

I guess it's public info since it's been released on Facebook. The Harding building at 32nd and Shartel will be closed. HCP announced that just the site is closed, so one would speculate that they're relocating to another school which is being closed.

[DoctorTaco]

This is going to be painful but people I know who are close to the process say that consolidating schools like this should have been done a decade or more ago.

[OKC Guy]

This is going to be painful but people I know who are close to the process say that consolidating schools like this should have been done a decade or more ago.

Totally agree

[OKC Guy]

I guess it's public info since it's been released on Facebook. The Harding building at 32nd and Shartel will be closed. HCP announced that just the site is closed, so one would speculate that they're relocating to another school which is being closed.

Do you have a list of all closures?

[Midtowner]

Do you have a list of all closures?

I don't. It should be released Tuesday. The frustrating thing is that it seems like that every affected site has heard the news, but no one is aggregating that information. It's almost as if we are missing a source of news which people pay writers to publish content about what's going on in this city.

[citywokchinesefood]

I don't. It should be released Tuesday. The frustrating thing is that it seems like that every affected site has heard the news, but no one is aggregating that information. It's almost as if we are missing a source of news which people pay writers to publish content about what's going on in this city.

I am pretty sure they are too busy begging people to subscribe as they cut their already meager content down.

[Rover]

I don't. It should be released Tuesday. The frustrating thing is that it seems like that every affected site has heard the news, but no one is aggregating that information. It's almost as if we are missing a source of news which people pay writers to publish content about what's going on in this city.

Local comprehensive news sources aren’t being supported well enough to do comprehensive reporting. Segmentation enabled by cheaper distribution of news via the net means sources that are narrow but deep. Who would support or go to a web site that only carried local news reporting in depth about such things as school closings, traffic stops, etc. Sites like this provide some info, sites like tv stations add some, but nobody is doing widespread in depth news on multiple subjects.

On this subject, I suggest reading the book “The Long Tail”. J

[bombermwc]

This is just reality of a district that is too spread out and has been declining in numbers for decades. LONG overdue. Yes, it means your local school may close. That's life.

Hey, my own elementary (East Side) was dozed when they combined three of them in Mid-Del to make one new one (on my school's site). It's not quite the same thing when the re-name the place and nothing's left of the old place. And next, they're gonna close my old Jr. High (Jarman). But that place was never given the attention it should have by the district, so it's been a pile of poo for decades.

It happens and if you want the district to be financially viable, they need to release some of this property. The kicker for me is, how many of these properties got Maps4Kids money put in to them, only now to close them?

[Midtowner]

There are going to be three different competing plans.

[DoctorTaco]

I would call this a scoop. Some early details of the plan from NonDoc:https://nondoc.com/2019/01/21/okcps-...aths-revealed/

[Midtowner]

Yup. I’m still a subscriber to the Oklahoman out of a sense of civic duty to support my local paper. If all they’re going to do is print press releases and curmudgeonly opinion pieces, I may look to spend on something else.

[jerrywall]

Yup. I’m still a subscriber to the Oklahoman out of a sense of civic duty to support my local paper. If all they’re going to do is print press releases and curmudgeonly opinion pieces, I may look to spend on something else.

If the Oklahoman was a free paper like the gazette, I still wouldn't go out of my way to pick it up at this point. If I was going to subscribe to a local paper, it'd more likely be the Edmond Sun.

[stile99]

Yup. I’m still a subscriber to the Oklahoman out of a sense of civic duty to support my printed in Tulsa paper.

Fixed that for you.

[Midtowner]

Fixed that for you.

I don't care where it's printed. It seems as if a few websites and the Gazette are what we have for news coverage of entities which don't produce their own content for the media. Our TV news stations occasionally, once in a blue moon do something surprising, but it's mostly sending cameras out to take b-roll of parked police cars wherever the shootings were that day.

[Uptowner]

That’s police scanner reporting, not journalism

[Midtowner]

That’s police scanner reporting, not journalism

If only they did use scanners. Our local media is so lazy and short staffed that I'll bet they wait until they receive a phone call from the Public Information Officers regarding local goings on.

[shawnw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_A3Ho7aFQs

Full video of the board meeting discussing the closure options...

[mugofbeer]

Is there a list of the schools, yet?

[SouthSide]

Is there a list of the schools, yet?

You can view the three plans here:
https://www.okcps.org/Page/3745

[Midtowner]

The District is wanting to shutter the Harding High School building completely and greatly expand Classen's enrollment. The District is not being clear as to what its intentions are with the two schools, simply that they will relocate. One would speculate that the Distrcit intends that should the schools continue to operate, they will be moved clear across town to the Centennial Mid-High building. This is obviously a run at trying to recover some of the enrollment OKCPS perceives they lost to the Hardings--both of which are highly successful charter schools which, unlike Classen SAS, do not require students to test to enter (though the Hardings regularly outperform Classen SAS in rankings).

There was a lot of talk about increasing equity for students, but it appears to me that OKCPS is doubling down on being a two track district with one large magnet school system for students who are able to make it, then another track for everyone else.

[turnpup]

The District is wanting to shutter the Harding High School building completely and greatly expand Classen's enrollment. The District is not being clear as to what its intentions are with the two schools, simply that they will relocate. One would speculate that the Distrcit intends that should the schools continue to operate, they will be moved clear across town to the Centennial Mid-High building. This is obviously a run at trying to recover some of the enrollment OKCPS perceives they lost to the Hardings--both of which are highly successful charter schools which, unlike Classen SAS, do not require students to test to enter (though the Hardings regularly outperform Classen SAS in rankings).

There was a lot of talk about increasing equity for students, but it appears to me that OKCPS is doubling down on being a two track district with one large magnet school system for students who are able to make it, then another track for everyone else.

What it shows in the plans is for the existing Classen SAS to be a middle school for its current student body and for the kids in the middle division at NE. The existing Classen SAS high-schoolers are to be transferred to NE to join with their existing high-schoolers. According to the plans, both are to be "application" schools. My question is regarding how/if that changes each high school's existing admissions and/or track of study programs. Also, if NE would have previously been your feeder school for middle school and high school, where would you be entitled to go if you aren't accepted into the new combined Classen/NE structure? Maybe MLK Middle and Douglass HS, as that's where they're proposing to feed Wilson and John Rex kids?

As for the Harding charters, I believe there had been a suggestion of relocating them to the Centennial facility. I'd be curious as to the cost analysis of what it would look like to take both those programs and get the Centennial property repurposed to suit their needs vs. maintaining their existing facilities at the Harding building and doing repairs as needed.

[Midtowner]

The existing Harding facility was neglected by OKCPS for many years and I expect the cost of a full renovation would be prohibitive. That said, I know they put about $2 million into a new HVAC a few years back with a grant and I don't know exactly what needs to be done in terms of maintenance, but negotiations will start in February. I don't see Centennial as a great option primarily because of its location. You'd be moving the existing inner-city neighborhood school with all of its community ties a full 20 minutes away in the middle of wheat fields. I'm sure the facility is objectively nicer, but who ever thought 103rd and Kelley was going to be a highly populated area?

[turnpup]

The existing Harding facility was neglected by OKCPS for many years and I expect the cost of a full renovation would be prohibitive. That said, I know they put about $2 million into a new HVAC a few years back with a grant and I don't know exactly what needs to be done in terms of maintenance, but negotiations will start in February. I don't see Centennial as a great option primarily because of its location. You'd be moving the existing inner-city neighborhood school with all of its community ties a full 20 minutes away in the middle of wheat fields. I'm sure the facility is objectively nicer, but who ever thought 103rd and Kelley was going to be a highly populated area?

Agree completely. I'm also concerned about how many other schools are slated for closure in the core. Several, if not more, of them seem to have a strong parental involvement component and are fixtures in their neighborhoods. These are neighborhoods that are evolving back into thriving developments. Will closure of a school that their kids can walk to affect future redevelopment?

Even with respect to Classen SAS, there's such a strong walkability component for the students that it's hard for me to imagine those same kids having to drive or be driven over to NE every day. It has always made me feel good seeing them walking to and from school every day in droves, even when the weather isn't optimal, many lugging heavy instrument cases. Losing that element seems a shame.

Not trying to be hyper-critical of the proposals, but rather just airing some concerns. Clearly change is needed. I do like the emphasis back on elementary, middle and high schools as separate entities.

[shawnw]

Money was put into every school as part of MAPS for Kids and we're not getting that money back once schools are shuttered, right? I mean, buildings and land will be sold, but is it possible to break even here?