TPS Reveals Preparations For Students’ Return To In-Person Class

Tulsa Public School Administrators and Board members met Monday to talk about operations and how the district will safely reopen.

Pre-K and Kindergarten students are set to head back to in-person classes on November 9.  

1. Students in Pre-K and kindergarten will return on Monday, Nov. 9.  
2. Students in grades 1 - 3 will return on Monday, Nov. 16.
3. Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 (at elementary schools only) will return on Monday, Nov. 30.

School leaders talked about some of the changes they've made in the building and what a typical school day will look like. They discussed the health screening questionnaire and what questions families will be asked to answer.

They said if the response to any of the screening questions is yes, students should be kept at home.

"It’s very common for parents and, I might be accused of this from time to time, to send your child to school when they're complaining of something but it’s not normal anymore,” TPS Board Member Dr. Jerry Griffin said. “So, keep your children at home if they are not feeling well or this whole thing will fall apart, and we'll be in distance learning again.”  

District leaders said students must have a mask that covers their nose and mouth before they can board the bus and enter the building. The district also asked that drivers stay in their cars when dropping their kids off.

They said when students get to their classroom, they'll be assigned to a "pod" with three to four other students and will stay with their pod throughout the day. The district said students will also be given mask breaks throughout the day

Some board members joined the Zoom call from the board room at the education service center, others joined from home.

District leaders talked about local data from the Tulsa Health Department and said the numbers are not dramatically different from the past few weeks.

"The school age group continues to be consistently and significantly below the rates that we see at the broader TPS boundaries as well as Tulsa County,” said Tulsa Public Schools Chief Operations Officer Jorge Robles.

They also said they have 110 substitute teachers right now and 30 of those have come forward in the past few weeks. They are, however, looking for more substitutes in the coming weeks.

Leaders discussed what would happen if there were to be an increase in cases or if there would need to be a suspension of in-person learning.

"It’s hard to imagine a scenario that we would have such a wide-spread situation that we would have to close the whole system, but we would monitor school by school and make decisions at that level,” said Robles.

"We are hoping that Tulsans will continue wearing their masks and washing their hands and watching their distance, so we won’t see ourselves in that position,” said Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist.

The district also launched a set of "one-pagers" that include a lot of information that families need to know as students head back to in person classes.

The one-pagers also include acceptable masks and tips to prepare for in-person learning.

You can find the family and student support “one-pagers” here.