OKCPS to Possibly Close up to 20 Schools

[turnpup]

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?

That's another fair observation. We used to live in the Linwood neighborhood. That school was added onto twice in recent years. It's now slated for closure in one of the three plans.

[Midtowner]

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?

No money was put into Harding as part of MAPS for Kids. At the time, the school building was vacant. Since it has been occupied by the two charter schools for the past 16 years, those schools have obtained grants and donations to greatly improve the structure. There are some pressing structural concerns, but I'm not on board with the "this building isn't safe" crowd yet. I don't think that's a statement based in fact.

[turnpup]

No money was put into Harding as part of MAPS for Kids. At the time, the school building was vacant. Since it has been occupied by the two charter schools for the past 16 years, those schools have obtained grants and donations to greatly improve the structure. There are some pressing structural concerns, but I'm not on board with the "this building isn't safe" crowd yet. I don't think that's a statement based in fact.

Again, agree. It appears to be working fine for them as it is now, and all their previous improvements would be simply gone if they had to abandon that building. Then you have to ask what is the likelihood of the building being mothballed for many years after becoming vacant. If it's that structurally defunct, who's going to want to spend the money on substantial repairs in the immediate future? This whole relocation of the Hardings seems not the best fit, either for the schools or for the fate of the building itself.

[Johnb911]

I wonder if part of the move to close Harding is because it would be one of the most appealing buildings on the resale market. Cool building, good neighborhood. Land. Could be developed into desirable housing.

Good friends with a family who's kid goes there. They told me the alumni just put $250k into the library there. I don't know if that was just on books and computers that can be moved, or if there was a remodel involved that would be lost.

[Pete]

^

Yes, that Harding property is awesome, both in architecture and location.

Here at the Gazette, we are getting ready to take on an intern from Harding, a super sharp kid.

I'll be sad to see the school stop functioning but have no doubt it could be redeveloped into something great.

[Midtowner]

I wonder if part of the move to close Harding is because it would be one of the most appealing buildings on the resale market. Cool building, good neighborhood. Land. Could be developed into desirable housing.

Good friends with a family who's kid goes there. They told me the alumni just put $250k into the library there. I don't know if that was just on books and computers that can be moved, or if there was a remodel involved that would be lost.

The library was gutted and completely redone.

[BridgeBurner]

Oh dang, the school in my neighborhood (Hawthorne) is on 2/3 plans
Can't really imagine a good scenario coming out of that.

[rtz]

From the nondoc article; it mentions OKC having "54 elementaries". Then later states "OKCPS is Oklahoma’s largest school district, with more than 45,000 students enrolled in the 2017-2018 school year" and then this: "though the student population remains far lower than what OKCPS served in the 1950s and 1960s."

How is that even possible?

[Jersey Boss]

From the nondoc article; it mentions OKC having "54 elementaries". Then later states "OKCPS is Oklahoma’s largest school district, with more than 45,000 students enrolled in the 2017-2018 school year" and then this: "though the student population remains far lower than what OKCPS served in the 1950s and 1960s."

How is that even possible?

Smaller families would be my guess as well as private/home schoolers being more in vogue.

[corwin1968]

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 was in one of the schools scheduled to be closed on Tuesday and didn't hear a peep about it. I suspect the principal probably knew but if she told anyone, they kept the secret.

[Architect2010]

As a Southeast HS graduate in 2010, my main fear was that our magnet and charter schools would be targeted due to their smaller enrollment figures.

Glad to see that is not the case.

Also, Parmalee being converted to a middle school when Webster is literally a half-mile away? Questionable to me, but I won't pretend to know the demographics and enrollment challenges. I no longer stomp around there. Haha.

[Dob Hooligan]

From the nondoc article; it mentions OKC having "54 elementaries". Then later states "OKCPS is Oklahoma’s largest school district, with more than 45,000 students enrolled in the 2017-2018 school year" and then this: "though the student population remains far lower than what OKCPS served in the 1950s and 1960s."

How is that even possible?

I'm guessing growth of outlying districts. Putnam City, Edmond, Moore...

[Teo9969]

I don't know enough about the educational enterprises to know what's changing here and how to look at this news from that perspective.

From an OKC-Inner-Core real estate perspective, this seems like a *huge* deal. Something like 6 or 7 buildings inside the I-44/I-235/I-40 loop. Horace Mann, if it can be repurposed, is a massive piece of property sitting right on a Western Avenue that has quietly picked up some steam the last 2 years. Going to be interesting to see how that piece of the puzzle turns out, especially in light of the recent OU Med Center development.

[Canoe]

The new boundaries are interesting. Links at the bottom of the page.

https://www.okcps.org/Page/3745

[SouthSide]

The boundaries for remaining schools is going to have to change as well. U.S. Grant is not the only southside school with too many students for the existing facilities.

[aDark]

The new boundaries are interesting. Links at the bottom of the page.

https://www.okcps.org/Page/3745

So, the new boundaries are just proposed, right? When would this be voted on and finalized?

[Midtowner]

The boundaries for remaining schools is going to have to change as well. U.S. Grant is not the only southside school with too many students for the existing facilities.

If Horace Mann is vacated, I'd expect to see a charter startup in that building pretty soon looking to continue with the partnership that school has enjoyed with CHK just across the street.

[shawnw]

If this plan is moving charters like Harding, it doesn't seem like the district would then turn around and approve a different charter that goes against their streamlining plan...

[okccowan]

On the P2G plans, John Rex is listed as an elementary school only feeding into MLK Middle SChool (which is really really far away from John Rex). It sure seems like the School Board plans to take away the charter for a John Rex Middle School.

[DoctorTaco]

On the P2G plans, John Rex is listed as an elementary school only feeding into MLK Middle SChool (which is really really far away from John Rex). It sure seems like the School Board plans to take away the charter for a John Rex Middle School.

This is incorrect. The only reason Rex is even mentioned in feeder patterns is that it is the only charter elementary school in OKCPS with a designated feeder area. So they are saying that if you live in the Rex elementary feeder area, your default middle school in that area is MLK. Until this week the default was Taft for most of the Rex area.

All other charters in town do not have a designated area and take kids by application only, so they are sorta oblivious to any redrawing of boundaries. RIght now the Rex Middle School is acting like a "traditional" charter in that it has no designated neighborhoods feeding into it. So for that reason Rex Middle school isn't mentioned in regards to boundary redrawing.

But it is even more confusing, because if you live in the Rex elementary feeder area you are also in the Wilson elementary feeder area. So you can actually choose which elementary to send your kids to without transferring or applying into either. But the Wilson area is much larger than the Rex area (and this week became much larger). The Rex elementary area can be thought of as an "overlay" on the other school boundaries, and the size of this overlay did not change this week.

It is kind of muddled.

[Midtowner]

All other charters in town do not have a designated area and take kids by application only,

To be clear, they are admitted on the basis of a lottery or first come/first serve--not according to ability or disability.

[turnpup]

Actually, John Rex and Wilson's attendance zones don't overlap. The current John Rex attendance zone is here: https://johnrexschool.org/about/attend/

And Wilson's is here:
https://www.okcps.org/cms/lib/OK0191...aps/Wilson.pdf

Interestingly, under the proposed plan, both Wilson and John Rex would feed into MLK for middle school and Douglass for high school.

[DoctorTaco]

Actually, John Rex and Wilson's attendance zones don't overlap. The current John Rex attendance zone is here: https://johnrexschool.org/about/attend/

And Wilson's is here:
https://www.okcps.org/cms/lib/OK0191...aps/Wilson.pdf

Interestingly, under the proposed plan, both Wilson and John Rex would feed into MLK for middle school and Douglass for high school.

Interesting. See the new Wolson boundary here: https://www.okcps.org/cms/lib/OK0191...%20Website.pdf which still does not overlap with Rex.

Looking at this I note that all of Edgemere Heights/Crown Heights/Paseo is now zoned to Wilson. Wilson has long been seen as the "desirable" elementary. I'm curious if those neighborhoods might reconsider sending their kids to public school now that Wilson is back on the table? I doubt it but interesting to consider. Right now most Crown Heights kids (all?) go to private schools.

[turnpup]

Interesting. See the new Wolson boundary here: https://www.okcps.org/cms/lib/OK0191...%20Website.pdf which still does not overlap with Rex.

Looking at this I note that all of Edgemere Heights/Crown Heights/Paseo is now zoned to Wilson. Wilson has long been seen as the "desirable" elementary. I'm curious if those neighborhoods might reconsider sending their kids to public school now that Wilson is back on the table? I doubt it but interesting to consider. Right now most Crown Heights kids (all?) go to private schools.

Also, I wonder if feeding in the future to MLK for middle and Douglass for high school (from Taft/NW Classen previously) will be considered a lateral move, or a good one, or a not-so-good one to those parents of Wilson students. It'll be interesting to talk to some parents to see how they feel about it.

[shawnw]

Upcoming community meetings...