Tulsa Public Schools Gives First Presentation On Progress To State Board Following Accreditation Battle

Tulsa Public Schools gave its first report to the State Board of Education Thursday about the district’s progress since the state changed the district’s accreditation last month.

The state board upgraded the district’s status from “Accredited with Warning” to “Accredited with Deficiencies,” and TPS is required to make monthly reports on their efforts to improve reading scores and financial transparency.

Both TPS Interim Superintendent Ebony Johnson and State Superintendent Ryan Walters agree Thursday’s conversations were a first step in the right direction. And both said they will do whatever they can to improve TPS.

"That's my singular focus for being your superintendent. I see my role as fostering academic outcomes for my students," said Dr. Ebony Johnson. "It's imperative."

Johnson went over the district’s plan to fix reading, schools with an F rating, and protect taxpayer money.

Johnson said the district is doing several things, including getting parents more involved, looking at data from lower-performing schools weekly, and adding new restrictions for vendors used by TPS.

She said TPS faces a lot of challenges, like students not speaking English and 80 percent at an economic disadvantage. Part of her plan to improve reading involves more one-on-one connection with students.

“Our teachers are working diligently alongside our students to look at data on a consistent basis that centers around the science of reading," she said.

Walters said these conversations were a great start but wanted to see more concrete data.

"What are the metrics that we can look at?” said Walters. “And again, if we're not meeting those metrics, we can take a drastic course of action to then try and shift to meet them by the next quarter, next month. So, can you tell me a little bit about why I'm looking at this report, and I'm not seeing anything about X amount of growth by this timeline?"

Johnson said she has data and graphs she can send.

“We do have data that I can follow up and provide you that show the growth and the expectation for growth and how we are charting in the right direction,” said Johnson.

Walters said he’s happy to have these conversations about the district’s growth and said their work is far from over.

"Failure won't be an option. We will have success in Tulsa, we will do whatever it takes to get there, and again, this is the beginning and the start of a conversation,” said Walters. “We need to follow up on these goals and continue.”

Johnson believes it could take some time before these changes get the results they all want to see, but she said she’ll work as fast as she can.

"I have every intention on moving in an expeditious manner, but I'm also very mindful of the challenges that we have before us,” said Johnson.

The next State Board of Education Meeting, where TPS officials could present their progress, will be held on October 26.