TPS Looking To Shake Up Alternative Program

Tulsa's superintendent is taking another crack at shaking up alternative education. The move comes three months after a moratorium was placed on his newest alternative program. The News On 6's Ashli Sims reports Dr. Michael Zolkoski presented the proposal at a special board meeting on Saturday.    

Dr. Zolkoski says he wants to give parents a choice, when it comes to discipline. He announced a plan for a new alternative program aimed at helping students involved with alcohol and drugs.

It is all part of Dr. Zolkoski's response to the controversial Tulsa Academic Center, or TAC, which was established last fall.

In the spring, the program was dogged by accusations of overcrowding and frequent violence. Some parents claimed students sent to TAC for non-violent offenses were side-by-side with students sent there for gang activity.

The superintendent's plan for change includes giving parents a choice. They can accept long term suspension for their student, send their kids to TAC or to a third option, the Burbank Academy.

For now Burbank is just a proposal. The superintendent is envisioning an alternative school aimed at serving kids suspended for drugs and alcohol. It would have a staff of about 20, specifically trained to deal with substance abuse. It would serve about 60 to 80 students.

There is no word on how much the program will cost.     

The board asked for an internal investigation of what went wrong at TAC. The school board spent much of the afternoon discussing whether they are going to release the report.

They were in executive session for about four hours to decide if they would release this internal report to the public. Apparently, the board is concerned about getting in legal trouble for talking about what they consider to be personnel issues. In the end they decided to release a summary on Monday night at the board meeting.

The school board president did admit the district has made errors with TAC and he says they're committed to correcting them.