TULSA, Okla. — Over a year after the State Board of Education voted 4-2 to demote Tulsa Public Schools' accreditation, many questions continue to loom as the school year approaches.
2 News previously reported the accreditation was questioned after a TPS teacher filed a complaint saying mandatory training videos violated state bill 1775.
The videos, according to Tulsa Public Schools, trained teachers on "race and ethnic education," which in no way implied a person was inherently racist based on race.
TPS's accreditation status is up in the air as State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the SBOE continue to push back the decision.
Many parents of TPS students pose questions about what this means for the upcoming school year.
So, what does the Oklahoma statute say about pulling accreditation from a school?
According to 2020 Oklahoma statutes Title 70, "If one or more school sites fail to receive accreditation as required pursuant to this section or subsequently lose accreditation, the State Board of Education shall close the school and reassign the students to accredited schools within the district or shall annex the district to one or more other districts in which the students can be educated in accredited schools."
To pull a school's accreditation, the State Board of Education must discuss it in a public meeting and put it to a board vote.
- Previous coverage: Parents pack OSDE board meeting, TPS accreditation talks delayed
Tulsa Public Schools has around 33,873 students as of October 2022. According to this statute, if TPS loses its accreditation, the students will be disbursed to the nearest accredited district.
TPS is the largest school district in the state and disseminating all 30,000 students to nearby schools would be a challenge.
Rough school enrollment numbers at other schools students could attend in Tulsa County:
- Jenks: 12,700
- Broken Arrow: 19,500
- Owasso: 9,800
- Bixby: 7,200
- Glenpool: 2,800
- Sand Springs: 5,000
- Union: 15,000
- Liberty: 459
- Collinsville: 3,000
- Berryhill: 1,100
- Keystone: 273
- Sperry: 1,080
- Skiatook: 2,300
While the future of TPS still sits in the SBOE's hands the school is scheduled to start on August 17. As for the official vote on the accreditation status the date has not yet been released.
2 News will continue to provide updates on this developing story.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
