Concerned parents, community members ask OKCPS for "time out" on Pathway to Greatness plan

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Concerned parents, education advocates, and community members rallied outside the offices of Oklahoma City Public Schools administrators on Friday afternoon to demand a “time out.”

The want the superintendent and the school board to press pause on the Pathway to Greatness plan, which will result in the closure of 15 schools across the district.

“We understand that some changes need to be made, but we’re simply asking for more time,” said T. Sheri Dickerson, head of the Alliance for Better Community Schools (ABCS).

The Pathway to Greatness plan will also make changes to school boundaries, grade structures, and feeder patterns.

“It’s a wonderful concept, but we feel the closure, the consolidation, the reshuffling of schools is not something that’s going to solve the very deep-seated and ongoing problems of the Oklahoma City Public School System,” said Camille Landry, a member of ABCS.

If the plan is approved, thousands of students will attend a different school this August.

“I moved to a specific location so my kids could walk two blocks to their school,” said OKCPS parent Cristina Simmons. “As a single parent, that’s a luxury. And now they’re telling me that they’re going to have to take a bus and go all the way two to three miles? That’s absurd.”

The superintendent says the changes will save the district about $4 million every year and give schools more resources. Some of the benefits include full-time art, music, and P.E. teachers at every elementary school, science labs in every middle and high school, and smaller class sizes.

The Board of Education will meet on Monday to vote on the plan.

“We’re just asking them to slow down, to get more community input, to let the people’s voices be heard,” said Landry.

Advocates say many families haven’t been able to review the ambitious proposal, even though OKCPS posted the plan online.

“If you are struggling as a family, then you don’t have the resources needed to get the information,” Dickerson said. “So a very, very swift transition is not productive or conducive to making a successful school system.”

They want Oklahoma City residents to reach out to their school board member and tell them to vote no on Monday.

“North side, south side, east side – we need to band together because this is OKCPS,” said Simmons. “It’s not just one community, it’s all of us.”

OKCPS declined to comment on today’s rally.