BIXBY, Okla. — Bixby Public Schools is preparing everything for the new school year on August 16. But one thing that is not ready is the new high school.
“We've started construction of our new academic building on the high school campus,” Superintendent Rob Miller said.
It is $70 million for a new 200-thousand square foot state-of-the-art building. Miller says the construction area would require some patience and grace from the community because of traffic issues.
“We're going to make changes as we need to in order to have that run as smoothly as possible.”
Another change is the school lunch program. For the past two years, because of federal money, the district could offer free meals to every child.
“Well, that's gone away. We're back to the old set of guidelines where students need to qualify for free and reduced lunches.”
Parents will need to complete the paperwork and get it turned in. For the parents with younger students this year, the district is resuming normal operations.
“Parents are invited back into our buildings to participate at those beginning of the year activities,” Miller said.
As parents send their kids back into school buildings, Miller said they can rest easy.
“There's a heightened awareness or sense of, are we doing everything possible to keep our students safe?” Miller said. “And I can honestly answer that with Yes.”
Miller said the safety measures the school implements are more behind the scenes.
“It's very difficult for somebody to just walk in off the street and have access to our students,” Miller said.
Those measures include security cameras throughout the buildings and doors locked when school starts. Any adult that enters the building must have a reason and show ID at the front office.
On Governor Kevin Stitt’s recent executive order on school safety, specifically the RAVE Panic Button app, the district will be ready to go by the September deadline.
“I think those systems have value it streamlines communication and allows for quicker response,” Miller said. “But again, those things. There are very few one size fits all when it comes to schools.”
The order also offers risk and vulnerability assessments, which Bixby already does.
“Who do those assessments all the time, and if there's things that we need to improve, then we make those adjustments,” Miller said.
Miller said they do all they can to keep kids safe.
“They should feel comfortable when they put their child on a bus or drop off at school, that their child is going to be safe for the whole time they are with us,” Miller said.
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