Tulsa Public Schools Board Members Vote To Move Transition Academy To Grimes Elementary

A Tulsa school academy for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities will now be at the former Grimes Elementary building.

This comes after parents raised concerns about the safety of the first choice.

Board members approved the new location on Monday, and some parents didn't realize it was happening until they say Grimes posted on the Monday agenda.

"I think it's wonderful, it's a great location. It is surrounded by the community," said parent Alana Kennon.

She's relieved after the Tulsa school board voted to move the Tulsa Transition Academy to the former Grimes Elementary at 51st and Harvard.

They initially chose an area at North Mingo and I-244, that Kennon said was problematic.

"So it was just an area that was surrounded with a lot of Level Three sex offenders and those are not individuals that you want to even be within 2,000 feet of a school," Kennon said.

The Tulsa Transition Academy serves special education students after graduation.

"These students are a higher, more vulnerable population. And so a lot of times they don't know their safety boundaries, and they don't understand good people versus bad people," Kennon said.

Since then, the district held meetings with parents to discuss the location.

Kennon said while she would have been impacted, it was about more than her family.

"This has been about all of the students in Tulsa public who this transition academy would benefit. They needed a safe space for next year, the next 15 years," Kennon said.

Grimes will be renovated before Tulsa Transition Academy moves in. Right now, they're not sure what the timeline will be.

Kids across the district head back to class on August 20th.