Jenks Public Schools Makes Nearly $1.5M In Cuts

Jenks Public Schools is making almost $1.5 million in cuts in time for next school year.

The district said the $1.4 million reduction is part of about $6 million worth of funding reductions over the past three years.

In order to address the district’s growing enrollment and shrinking funding, Superintendent Stacey Butterfield said budget cuts are necessary for next school year.

"We are working to try to keep these reductions as far from students in classrooms as we possibly can," Butterfield said.

The superintendent said the district isn’t reducing any extracurricular activities or athletics, but some personnel positions will be cut.

"That will more than likely result in larger than what ideal class sizes that we would like to have when our students return in August," she said.

Some of the anticipated reductions and reallocations include charging groups for transportation to selected competitions, modifying selected employee contracts and eliminating Superintendent Scholars Program effective June 2018.

Parents said they aren’t happy, and grandparent Bill Clayton said he believes it will get worse.

"It's gonna get worse. The state’s in the hole, and it doesn’t matter what they do it's gonna get worse, unfortunately, and you depend on all your kids for the future," he said.

Butterfield said that if there are more teachers needed they will work to add them in, but other eliminations will have to be made somewhere else.

For example, she said the district is making some reductions in departments including in the education service center in order to add classroom teaching positions for next year.