Oklahoma City, Tulsa Schools on Probation

The state's education board has placed the Oklahoma City and Tulsa school districts on probation for failing to meet state and federal regulations.

Thursday, July 23rd 2009, 9:53 am

By: News 9

Oklahoma City, Tulsa Schools on Probation

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The state's education board has placed Oklahoma's two largest school districts on probation as part of the accrediting process for the upcoming school year.

How Are Schools Accredited?

School districts must apply for accreditation from the state once a year. Schools are accredited using these classifications.

Accredited With No Deficiencies-All standards are being met.

Accredited With Deficiencies-A school site fails to meet one or more of the standards but the deficiency does not seriously detract from the quality of the school's educational program.

Accredited With Warning-A school site:
(A) Fails to meet one or more of the standards and the deficiency seriously detracts from the quality of the school's educational program; and/or
(B) Identified as a School Improvement School (to be implemented in school year 2008-09).

Accredited With Probation-A school site:
(A) Consistently fails to remove or make substantial progress towards removing all deficiencies noted the previous year; and/or,
(B) Consistently violates regulations; and/or,
(C) Deliberately and unnecessarily violates one or more of the regulations; and/or,
(D) Identified as a School Improvement School Year 3 or beyond (to be implemented in school year 2008-09).

Nonaccredited-The school site is no longer recognized by the State Board of Education.

If a school site is placed on warning or probation, the school board and administration will meet with a committee from the Accreditation Section to review their accreditation status. After the review from the committee, a determination will be made concerning warning, probation or nonaccredited status. The Accreditation Section will then present a recommendation to the State Board of Education.

Source: State Department of Education

Oklahoma City and Tulsa school districts were unanimously voted to be "accredited with probation," which is the most serious status short of losing accreditation.

Oklahoma City and Tulsa Public School District officials said they were not blindsided by these results. In fact they said they've known about these problems for months and it's a small number of schools at fault. But as a whole, this is clearly not where they wanted to be.

"Nobody wants to be on a probation list related to the education of your state's children," said Steve Shafer, OKCPS Board Member.

But that's where the OKCPS finds itself after the Oklahoma State Department of Education crunched the numbers from the 2007-2008 academic year. Fourteen of Oklahoma City Public Schools were cited for violations of either federal or state education regulations or both. Nine facilities in Tulsa Public Schools were cited.

"We're in the process of taking aggressive action in partnership with Tulsa Public Schools," Shafer said.

Shafer said both districts have adopted a partnership with America's Choice in hopes of turning the academic errors into excellence.

"Effectively, through middle school and high school, it puts all students on a track to prepare themselves for entry into either a technical school or a four-year college program," Shafer said.

OKCPS Board Member Wilfredo Rivera said he thinks the partnership can turn the districts around.

"Our basic problem is our weakness in the areas of math and reading. So this program will address those academic needs," Rivera said.

The board said it has already seen some slight improvement and it is confident the problems will be resolved in a timely manner.

"Failure is not an option and it will not happen," Shafer said.

Another component of the program is the community engagement plan, which allows for input from parents, businesses and a host of others partners in strengthening the curriculum.

Board members at Oklahoma City Public Schools said there will be a complete overhaul of the curriculum within three to five years.

NEWS 9 asked several school officials what would happen if the Oklahoma City Public School District lost its accreditation. No one was able to give a direct answer.

The Butner school district in Seminole County is the only other district placed on probation.

The following schools have been put on probation:

Moon Elementary School

Douglas Middle School

CHHS

Grant High School

The following schools have been given warnings about possibly being put on probation:

North Highland Elementary

Rockwood

Northeast Middle School

Rogers Middle School

Roosevelt Middle School