Last Updated on March 12, 2023, 1:15 PM | Published: March 12, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gloria Torres and her sister were ready to start the first and second grades at Adelaide Lee Elementary if only they could find their way into the building.
Across the front of the school on S.W. 29th is a series of four doorways that all would look to anyone like some sort of front doors. The problem was that none of them were unlocked.
Fast forward to our visit to that same spot at the apparent — but, still not functional — “front” of the school Thursday.
“It was freezing,” said Torres with a casual laugh. “We huddled in one of these doorways trying to figure out what to do. But, we eventually figured out that everyone was going in through the gym.”
These days, Torres enjoys making sure her grandkids get off to a good start each school year in OKCPS just as she did her own daughter, Sara.
But, the process of Torres’ first day attempting to get into school in Oklahoma City Public Schools was not indicative of the rest of her history with the district over the years.
From a bilingual teaching assistant to teacher to administrator and now a board member, Torres has been about as “in” with the district as anyone could be.
Still, after all the years and experiences she has had in education, Torres says that the process of bilingual education and connecting kids to an American education is a “journey that continues to evolve.”
Bilingual assistant to teacher
“I started as a bilingual assistant in 1989,” Torres said. “And I saw the need that was in the classroom, not just for the language support, but just for the families to feel like there was somebody who could understand where they were coming from, not just what they were saying, but where they were coming from, and wasn’t there to judge them.”
She said that’s why she pressed on to get her teaching degree and become a teacher and then why she moved into administration.
Her teaching career was in Dallas Public Schools were she eventually became the lead bilingual teacher in her building.
“I helped other teachers with their instruction and their connection to parents and things like that. And so, that’s when I decided, well, you know, if I can do this as a teacher, if I can have this impact, if I can help this many families, what could I do if I was an administrator? Who could I help?”
Administration
With a masters in Public Administration she returned to OKCPS in 2004, this time as an administrator. And, she would be the first Latina to be an adminstrator in the district.
She started off as an assistant principal at Capitol Hill High School and then became the principal at Jefferson Middle School.
Again, it was a process to translate not just the language that more and more of the district’s constituents spoke, but the culture needs as well. And, the process wasn’t easy.
“There was limited cultural awareness of what our community specifically needed in order to be able to thrive.”
But, the process continued.
Board of Education
After leaving OKCPS professionally for a position in higher education, she was appointed to the Board of Education in 2014 and then was unapposed for the 2015 election.
She won the next election in 2019 with 57% of the vote against Josh Means.
I asked what has been the big surprise about finally being on the board after having worked for the board for so many years.
“When I was an administrator, I thought the board always knew before we knew anything, we thought the board members were the ones who were the holders of all information. Well, come to find out, board members really are the last to find out anything.”
She said that the administration works hard to make sure that when they present information and decisions to be made to the board that board members ar fully informed. And, that means the board members really are the last to know information about the district.
A strength that Torres sees with the current slate of board members is that so many of them have deep roots in the district, some even having come up through the district’s schools such as Adrian Anderson who currently represents the Star-Spencer area of the district.
Anderson grew up in that part of the district and now has his own children coming up through the system, too.
Making way for a new board member
After being on the Board of Education for OKCPS since 2014 she chose not to run in the last election in the fall paving the way for Juan Lecona to run unapposed for the District 6 seat.
In April, Lecona will be seated on the board.
It’s no secret that Torres supported Lecona after having learned of his background and his deep business connections to the south side.
Like so many on the south side and now throughout Oklahoma City, his parents brought him to the U.S. and then Oklahoma City as a child. He grew up in the industrious Mexican-American culture of the south side of Oklahoma City.
Some believed that Torres recruited Lecona, but she told me that she did not.
“It was brought to my attention that we had somebody in the community who was interested in and and so I met with him. And he told me, you know, what he does, what he did, where he’s been and his family.”
She learned that Lecona has a deep history in the district, too.
- Attended and graduated from Capitol Hill High School
- Was in the Advanced Placement program there
- Still a member of the south side community
- Able to hear the needs of the community and keep the board aware
“He’s familiar with the abilities that we have,” said Torres about Lecona. “Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, well, they’re a very high need, low income, they can’t really do very much, and so we’re not going to push them,’ which is not the case. You know, we can do a whole lot more.”
Free Press will cover Lecona’s entry into the district Board of Ed in more depth later.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
