Crowds Gather At State Board Of Education Meeting; New Capacity Signs In Place

The State Board of Education is taking more time to look at what the state superintendent calls "severe issues" that could impact the accreditation status at Tulsa Public Schools.

Thursday’s board meeting drew people in who agree and disagree with what's going on.

Even though no decision on Tulsa Public Schools' accreditation status was going to be made Thursday, people showed up early for the board meeting. The meeting room and lobby were busy, as people listened closely to what was said.

Outside the state board of education building, the majority of the crowd was made up of people who support State Superintendent Ryan Walters. They held signs, thanking him.

"I just wanted to be here to support the effort of what our superintendent is trying to do for our teachers and our students and the classroom,” Ronda Peterson said. She said she pulled her grandson from public school three years ago, but declined to say where, because she said she was worried about being “targeted.”

Inside the lobby, another crowd intently watched the school board meeting projected on a wall. It was a crowd with mixed feelings, as they judged and took notes from people making public comments to the board.

New signs posted inside the lobby indicated the State Fire Marshal declared the front lobby has a capacity for 49 people. People were called in to the actual board meeting as room became available from others leaving.

After about two hours of hearing from parents, educators and students, Walters had this to say about Tulsa Public Schools:

"In light of several of the ongoing, significant and severe issues going on with the district, I will be making or supporting a motion today with the board to move their accreditation in August, to give the board more time to discuss and look into what our officials have found,” Walters said.

The school board plans to vote on the accreditation status for TPS one week after school starts.

That leaves Ashley Daly with questions. She said she has a second grader at TPS.

“So what does delayed mean, is my question? You know? School starts in two weeks. I know that we need our accreditation to qualify for funding,” Daly said. “And so if we don’t have our accreditation, like if it’s not renewed for the school year, then will we get our funding?”

TPS Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist said Wednesday she feels the accreditation issue has become politicized and said the focus right now should be moving forward and getting ready for the new school year.

TPS released the following statement on Thursday, July 27: "Today, the State Board of Education made the unprecedented decision to postpone the vote on Tulsa Public Schools’ accreditation until the August meeting. The district has corrected the deficiencies identified during the accreditation process and is adhering to the collaborative, improvement-oriented intent of school accreditation. Tulsa is accredited and remains focused on welcoming our 34,000 students back to school on August 17th as we kick off another exciting school year."