OKCPS to Possibly Close up to 20 Schools

[soonerguru]

Supposedly they provided an exception for West Nichols Hills and Belle Isle. More "equitable?"

[DoctorTaco]

It passed the School Board unanimously tonight. Plan B with minor modification.

https://nondoc.com/2019/03/04/okcps-...-to-greatness/

[soonerguru]

Horrible decision. Very disappointed in the lack of media coverage of this. Sad for this city overall. This SUCKS.

[SuburbanNation]

Very difficult decision to make that affects many families, however, in the long term this should be a win for OKCPS schools. A step in the right direction.

[Canoe]

I have a different opinion. This will be a win for private middle schools/high schools, suburban districts, and possibly charter mid highs. This two track system with normal feeder schools and beefed up application schools ensures the OKC's best will get a good education while the rest is doomed to a sub par status quo education.

The is a win for the top 5-10% of students. This is a win for the school district's bottom line. It is a win for the overcrowded and underserved southside, everyone else loses.

If you have a child that is in the top 20% of his class and can't get into an application middle school then your opinions are 1.) A charter school, 2.) A private school if you can afford it or 3.) Move to Edmond/Norman.

So not only do you lose the top 10% to the application schools, you also lose every student/parent that cares about their/child's education. I hope I am wrong, and I am open to being convinced. If we love this city we should love the students and the education system.

Note: this was typed in a hurry on a cell phone. Please work around the spelling and grammar errors.

[DoctorTaco]

I have a different opinion. This will be a win for private middle schools/high schools, suburban districts, and possibly charter mid highs. This two track system with normal feeder schools and beefed up application schools ensures the OKC's best will get a good education while the rest is doomed to a sub par status quo education.

The is a win for the top 5-10% of students. This is a win for the school district's bottom line. It is a win for the overcrowded and underserved southside, everyone else loses.

If you have a child that is in the top 20% of his class and can't get into an application middle school then your opinions are 1.) A charter school, 2.) A private school if you can afford it or 3.) Move to Edmond/Norman.

So not only do you lose the top 10% to the application schools, you also lose every student/parent that cares about their/child's education. I hope I am wrong, and I am open to being convinced. If we love this city we should love the students and the education system.

Note: this was typed in a hurry on a cell phone. Please work around the spelling and grammar errors.

I think all your points are valid, but I am unsure how these downsides you mention are significantly different than the status quo. Every day I hear people say that, prior to any investigation of their neighborhood school, they are sending their kids private/are moving to Deer Creek for the schools (even Edmond becoming suspect to some) or are enrolling at a charter. This is the case for many, and will continue being the case barring some massive infusion of resources into Oklahoma Education which no one is predicting will come. And even if it did, said wave of funding would lift Edmond/Deer Creek farther than OKCPS simply because they'd be starting from such a higher base level.

The wins for the under-served south side are obvious and should, on their own, justify the pain. As for the losses are you are saying we're gonna have more middle-class white folks leaving the district? Well guess what, the middle class whites have been leaving the district anyway for decades, and are going to continue in almost any case. Racism, as they say, is a hell of a drug*.

*Please understand I am talking about implicit subconscious racism not the white-hooded kind. I am talking about the racism that prevents even liberal parents from wanting to see their kids in a majority-minority school.

This plan (while super ****ty from a neighborhood strength/walkability perspective) is a massive move to a more equitable OKCPS. There is even a fair amount of desegregation built into the plan on sly, which is a good thing (although see my point above about the implicit racism and the liberal parents etc. etc.).

[Canoe]

Dr. Taco,

First of all bringing race into the conversation in today's climate shuts down the conversation and encourages people to self segregate. I know and hope is counter to you true motives.

We can agree that the southside came out ahead. We can agree that the elite students came out ahead. We can agree that this plan continues the status quo or in my opinion enhances the chances of a middle class family with a middle schooler (5th grade) that is bright but not super bright abandoning OKCPS for a better alternative in the marketplace.

This is the problem with the plan in my opinion. A school left with the bottom 70% of the population will score lower on standard tests and will continue to be selected against.

Maybe I am wrong about this, but my preference would be to build a strong sense of community as the local elementary school level between the school and neighborhood. When you take away that connection you encourage those who easily panic to self segregate. This is a negative result of closing so many neighborhood schools. Dr. Taco please, and I mean this please show me where my thinking on this is confused, and again sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes

[SouthSide]

It is refreshing to see OKC PS make a decision that doesn't sacrifice south okc. I don't see it as that south okc came out ahead. In my opinion, it is more that it was brought up the same level. I am somewhat encouraged that on a go forward basis resources may be more equitably distributed across the school district. Middle class whites especially in south okc have been leaving for decades because they were offered sub-par facilities and educational opportunities and this started when it was a majority white school district. Also, to get a larger more modern home it has made economic sense to buy a new house rather than remodel a home and this has pushed people further from the core which also meant a different school district. I realize it's trendy now but I think we need to quit throwing around accusations of racism implicit or otherwise.

[Midtowner]

Northside didn't do badly at all. One storyline lost in all of this is Harding Charter Prep moving to the Centennial HS building. They did their lottery yesterday and it looks like they'll fill every seat for their Freshman class. Lots of East side students and MWC/Del City students will have the opportunity to attend the state's top public high school--and they don't have to be top 20% students to be admitted.

[thunderbird]

Northside didn't do badly at all. One storyline lost in all of this is Harding Charter Prep moving to the Centennial HS building. They did their lottery yesterday and it looks like they'll fill every seat for their Freshman class. Lots of East side students and MWC/Del City students will have the opportunity to attend the state's top public high school--and they don't have to be top 20% students to be admitted.

I’ve been wondering about this. Where do the closed elementary schools now go?

[OKCretro]

https://newsok.com/article/5625596/o...-needs-repairs

[DoctorTaco]

It is kind of rich. Now that the Harding building is officially closed, the Harding charter schools (at least one of them) will admit the building is in terrible shape. If you attended the public meetings, like I did, the Harding supporters were among the most outspoken attendees--forecefully arguing that the alumni had poured so much money into the school and that it was in great shape.

[Midtowner]

It is kind of rich. Now that the Harding building is officially closed, the Harding charter schools (at least one of them) will admit the building is in terrible shape. If you attended the public meetings, like I did, the Harding supporters were among the most outspoken attendees--forecefully arguing that the alumni had poured so much money into the school and that it was in great shape.

Harding Fine Arts has actually announced that they are pursuing a purchase of the building. It's a pipe dream, I think, unless they have some sort of investor or major donor backing them. They're going to be up against developers who, unlike them, will have access to all of those tax credits aimed at helping redevelop historic properties. I understand that there are about $13.5 million in necessary repairs to get that building up to code. Couple that with the purchase price at auction against developers who can actually turn a substantial profit as the developers of The Douglass have and I don't see how that works.

[Richard at Remax]

Maybe someone can help me out as I feel like I am running in circles. I have a listing where the ES is Edgemere, MS is Douglass, and HS is Douglass. I heard Edgemere was going to close but can't seem to confirm. If so, what is the new school plan for those students so I can disclose in MLS? House is on 25th and Harvey in Jefferson Park.

Thanks in advance!

[Midtowner]

Maybe this will help?

https://excensus-guidek12.net/oklaho...l_search/2019/

[Richard at Remax]

Beautiful! I searched that last week and it hadn't updated yet. Thanks!

[DoctorTaco]

Maybe someone can help me out as I feel like I am running in circles. I have a listing where the ES is Edgemere, MS is Douglass, and HS is Douglass. I heard Edgemere was going to close but can't seem to confirm. If so, what is the new school plan for those students so I can disclose in MLS? House is on 25th and Harvey in Jefferson Park.

Worthy Cook: Does the market see Jefferson Park/Paseo being zoned to Wilson Elementary as a value-add? I know many folks in the past paid extra to live in Mesta for just that reason.

[bandnerd]

It is kind of rich. Now that the Harding building is officially closed, the Harding charter schools (at least one of them) will admit the building is in terrible shape. If you attended the public meetings, like I did, the Harding supporters were among the most outspoken attendees--forecefully arguing that the alumni had poured so much money into the school and that it was in great shape.

I was there. No one ever said it was in "great shape," just that we had, as you said, poured money into the school. The issues that OKCPS has with it have not been our focus. We've been improving the building, but the structural repairs fall on the district and they didn't really do that. We were asking to have some time to try and make these repairs ourselves, but they didn't want to give us the time, so we had to come up with a plan that we could act on now with certainty, for the sake of our families and stakeholders.

[Midtowner]

I was there. No one ever said it was in "great shape," just that we had, as you said, poured money into the school. The issues that OKCPS has with it have not been our focus. We've been improving the building, but the structural repairs fall on the district and they didn't really do that. We were asking to have some time to try and make these repairs ourselves, but they didn't want to give us the time, so we had to come up with a plan that we could act on now with certainty, for the sake of our families and stakeholders.

From what I can tell, Harding Charter Prep is going to have a successful transition to the new facility. Centennial HS is a major upgrade from the current facility. The STEM programs will blossom at the new building as the HS labs will be a major upgrade. The arts facilities are on par with anything you'd see in Edmond. Even despite the upheaval, I understand they still filled their Freshman class.

I wouldn't want to be on staff at Fine Arts. If the developer who developed The Douglass want to try to replicate their success at Harding High School, they will have generous grants and tax breaks Fine Arts wouldn't have access to. Fine Arts' entire strategy appears to require that they are the only bidder. I think that's pretty naïve.

[shawnw]

https://newsok.com/article/5626235/4...center-theatre

[OKCretro]

The article above i think answered my question concerning preK on the north side