Last Updated on August 29, 2022, 9:52 PM | Published: August 29, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — The word “accountability” was used so many times in Monday’s Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Ed meeting that one would be forgiven for having lost count.
Superintendent Sean McDaniel and several Board members used that word and “accountable” repeatedly and obviously for the sake of district patrons listening over livestream. He and Board members seemed intent on producing a public, fully transparent process of executing a successful bond election.
History has shown that passing a bond election in OKCPS is no small feat, in that the district covers a multitude of different neighborhoods and cultures with differing ideas, values, and levels of trust across the expansive OKC metro. And so, Board members and McDaniel are set on winning the trust of district patrons.
Citizen’s Oversight Committee
The Board voted Monday to establish a Citizen’s Oversight Committee to hold the district and Board accountable for doing what it is promising to do in the bond campaign. The vote was 6-0 with Board members Gloria Torres and Meg McElhaney absent.
As explained by McDaniel, there has already been a Bond Oversight & Planning Committee that included citizens from the community, board members and district staff.
Now, with the Citizen’s Oversight Committee, the Board members and staff have been removed leaving only those same citizens who are already on the committee.
“The Citizen’s Oversight Committee is really the accountability committee to make sure that we’re doing what we said we would do,” said McDaniel during the meeting.
The Board’s vice-chair, Mark Mann, talked briefly with Free Press before going into executive session. We asked why this vote was so important for the Board to turn in.
“This just adds that level of community accountability, holding our feet to the fire to make sure we deliver on what we said we’re going to do in this town,” said Mann. “And, you know, quite frankly, if you’re asking people for money — which we are — it’s their money, it’s their school system, we need to do what we tell them we’re going to do.”
On November 8, voters within the expansive district’s borders will be asked to approve issuing new bonds that will total close to $1 billion that will increase their property taxes to pay for such items as new busses, band equipment, and big-ticket projects.
Examples are a new, replacement building for Capitol Hill High School on the south side and a new regional statium on the campus of John Marshall High School on the north side.
Here is our report from the August 15 Board meeting where the resolution to call an election was passed with details about the projects:
Bond issues are how public school districts borrow money. Investors buy the bonds which provides an influx of cash in return for repayment plus interest over time from property taxes.
Other business
Other items on the short agenda of this special meeting of the Board:
- A resolution was passed for OKCPS to “be a better authorizer of its charter schools” and add the buildings the district owned back into the “major maintenance queue for repair and replacement of major structural issues to include the roof and foundation” and to make the district’s properties that charters use eligible for consideration in expenditure of bond money should the bond election pass in November.
- A long list of adjunct teachers were approved for various institutions around the county that need a teacher to keep youth in the education process while their regular schooling is interupted for a number of reasons. The district has contracted with various juevenile service agencies for years to provide classes in the confines of the institution.
- A new contracted service that will aid special education teachers in keeping track of important metrics to meet state and federal guidelines was approved.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
