Tulsa Public Schools Release Budget Deficit Feedback

Tulsa Public Schools just released the feedback they received from the community after a series of public input meetings.

The district is looking for ways to overcome a $20 million budget deficit. Tulsa Public Schools held 11 community meetings in recent weeks and sent out a web-based survey. The goal was to see what parents, teachers, students and others valued and prioritized.

According to the feedback, class sizes and social emotional learning were most valued among Tulsans.

Social emotional learning is part of an initiative by the district which teaches skills like self-management, self-awareness and relationship skills.

More than 5,700 people filled out the online survey, and 46% listed teacher pay in their top 5 most important valued services in the district.

That was followed closely behind by 41% of people who listed class sizes as being important.

Those two things were also important for people who attended the community meetings, but the top choices for them were maintaining behavioral and emotional supports for students and ensuring that all students have high-quality academic materials and assessments.

The district also asked to rank ways to save money and some popular choices for that were changing bell-times, reducing the number of teacher coaches and reducing central office services.

The district says they will take all of these findings and hold workshops with the Budget Advisory Committee, to develop plans and provide input into a budget redesign.

In December, they will hold even more community feedback meetings.

To read the full report, click here.