Tulsa Public Schools said it aloud Tuesday night: School closures and service reductions are real options in the face of a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
District leadership has until Oct. 19 to present a plan that would reduce its financial deficit by at least $12 million. At Tuesday’s board meeting, TPS administrators named what exactly is on the table.
The district is considering the following options for cost reductions, though cost estimates were not provided:
- closing and consolidating small schools;
- increasing class sizes from current ratios;
- freezing salaries for all employees;
- reducing access to student-facing programs like counseling, tutoring, field trips, athletics and fine arts; and
- discontinuing transportation to magnet programs across the district or increasing the elementary walking radius from 1.5 miles.
Administrators stressed nothing is set in stone. Community meetings about the district’s future start Wednesday and continue through Oct. 14…