Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:52 AM | Published: November 16, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY — A strong vote for two Oklahoma City Public Schools bond propositions has set in motion an ambitious five-year process to deliver for students and the property owners who will be paying the increased taxes.
The bond proposals were the largest and most ambitious in the history of the district, which — for a few decades after desegregation — had a difficult time passing even modest bond issues for usual expenditures like purchasing new buses.
Monday, at the first Board of Education meeting after the election, Superintendent Sean McDaniel told board members that the smaller refitting and rebuilding projects would be seen by the public first. Then the larger projects like the new Capitol Hill High School building and the North Regional Stadium would start.
The percentages of votes for/against on nearly $1 billion in projects by people who live in the district’s bounds was:
- Proposition One — 64% for, 36% against
- Proposition Two — 62% for, 38% against
Bonds are how government entities borrow money. Voters decide on a bond issue which will result in a higher property tax. Investors purchase the bonds and then the taxpayers pay off those bonds with interest over time with the tax money.
‘We’re grateful’
No doubt relieved and looking forward to progress in the future, McDaniel talked about how encouraging the strong vote was.
“We’re grateful that people took the time to get out and vote and most importantly that over 60% of them saw something in our kids, our faculty and staff and in our district that compelled them to say yes to this bond election,” said McDaniel in his superintendent’s report.
McDaniel also thanked the board “who truly thinks big.”
Plan to be delivered soon
McDaniel gave an update about the process of getting projects done in a timely fashion so that district patrons can see their vote at work.
He told the Board that “in a few days” the board would receive “a detailed document” that provides a formal framework for how the work pledged in the bond propositions would get accomplished.
The bond propositions included every feeder pattern all across the sprawling district from elementary to middle schools to high schools.
He also said that as a part of that process:
- Citizens Oversight Board will convene
- District staff will work closely with the bond counsel and bond financial advisors
- Work on the website will continue to keep everyone informed
Execution of plans that were already in development as a part of the bond campaign will then be the agenda for district staff.
‘City is pro-education’
Free Press talked with McDaniel by phone the next day after the vote passed.
“The excitement is that the year and a half, two years of discussions and planning and committee work and all that has become a reality after last night,” said McDaniel. “Now we move on to that, next phase of bringing the projects to our school district.”
He praised teachers and the board for their promotion of the bond issues as well as leadership in Oklahoma City’s business community and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.
“So just the idea that people pulled together, we’ve got a city, the City of Oklahoma City, as evidenced last night, is pro public education, pro kid. And so that’s exciting as well,” McDaniel said.
He continued, “It’s very encouraging to see a city get behind a school district and then a bunch of kids and teachers and saying, ‘We’re for this, we want this to work.'”
Five years
McDaniel responded to one comment from a board member about the plan to do all or almost all the work in only five years.
His response was that it is important to show voters the results of their vote and their higher property taxes, and that it is not good when voters have to still be waiting on projects to be complete a decade after the vote.
Projects
Here is a rundown of the projects we published after the vote that set the bond proposals on the ballot earlier this year:
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
