Last Updated on April 30, 2018, 11:10 PM | Published: April 30, 2018
Through a miscalculation, Oklahoma City Public Schools central administration officials set the wrong date for the last day of school earlier in April and, then, corrected it Thursday.
Calling the error “an honest mistake,” in a written statement to the media Thursday, Chief Communications Officer Beth Harrison said that the district’s last day of school now will be Tuesday, May 29.
After the end of the state teacher walkout, the district decided to add an hour to the end of each school day to make up time from the two weeks missed during the state teacher walkout.
In the process, administrators miscalculated the hours needed to complete the district’s instruction time requirements and set the date at May 31.
Harrison pointed to “an internal miscommunication” that led to errors in calculating the number of class-time hours the district would need to complete their required school year.
The error resulted in 14 more hours being added that were not needed to complete the requirement.
“After gathering feedback from our schools and taking into account the adjustments that all OKCPS schools and our many community partners have made to accommodate the extra hour of instruction, we made the decision to end the school year for students on May 29,” the prepared statement read.
The district’s remaining two snow days are being reserved for May 30 and 31 in case of severe spring weather causes the district to lose time.
You may learn more about the district’s approach to making up time by reading their FAQs page on the matter.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
