Last Updated on April 10, 2023, 8:02 PM | Published: April 10, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — Juan Lecona was sworn in to fill the District 6 Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education seat that has been held by Gloria Torres since her appointment in 2014. Torres was later elected in 2015 and then in 2019.
After Torres decided not to run again, Lecona filed for the position in December and was unopposed.
Lecona has the distinction of being the first immigrant and naturalized citizen of the U.S. to be on the OKCPS Board in its long history.
He is a graduate of Capitol Hill High School where he was in Advanced Placement courses and continues to live and do business on the South Side.
He also has children who are coming up through schools in the district.
“It’s a true honor to be able to serve on the Board in the district where I received my elementary and high school education,” Lecona told Free Press in a recent interview. “Having been brought here as a child and then growing up here and doing business here now helps me to be very interested in our local school district.”
Lecona’s District 6 and District 7, represented by Meg McElhaney, are the only board seats that solely represent the south side of the district, the portion of the district that has the highest concentration of students.
After the last round of redistricting, other election districts have segments that pick up a few schools each south of Reno. But, they were drawn to pick up those schools for balance precisely because there are so many students on the south side compared to the remainder of the district.
Map-of-OKCPS-Board-Districts-ALL-DISTRICTSSchools in Board District 6
- US Grant High School
- Jefferson Middle School
- Arthur Elementary
- Coolidge Elementary
- Esperanza Elementary
- Fillmore Elementary
- Heronville Elementary
- Hillcrest Elementary
- Prairie Queen Elementary
- Southern Hills Elementary
- Van Buren Elementary
Praise from Torres
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 so I met with him,” said Torres. “And he told me what he does, what he did, where he’s been and his family.”
“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.”
Vice-chair elected
Lori Bowman was elected Vice-Chair of the board unanimously by the other members Monday after Lecona was sworn in.
Mark Mann, the current Vice-Chair, thanked the board for having the confidence to elect him for the last several years, explained that he had served in that role enough, and then made the nomination of Bowman.
The chair of the board is the only seat elected by a district-wide vote of patrons and is currently held by Paula Lewis.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
