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School officials say a proposal to solve the state school funding crisis will be unveiled Bartlesville's School Board meeting at 5:45 Monday night at the Bartlesville Board of Education meeting in Bartlesville High School’s Fine Arts Center Auditorium.  

 

The state legislature has a challenge to finally act before a statewide school suspension occurs in early April. The meeting will include a vote on a recommendation from superintendent, Chuck McCauley to authorize suspending of all Bartlesville classes if the legislature fails to act.

 

The decision to change the venue was to allow as many people to attend as possible. The two previous board meetings have seen confirmed attendance of more than 330 and then more than 500 people, with unanimous public comment in favor of action supporting a teacher raise and improved school funding. 

 

The Oklahoma Education Association has indicated a statewide suspension of schools will begin on Monday, April 2nd if the legislature fails to address the crisis.

 

Bartlesville has been a leader in the effort to find a solution to the school funding crisis in Oklahoma. The local Board of Education began discussing the possibility of a school suspension months ago as a last resort if the legislature continued to fail to increase school revenue. 

 

After the latest school funding plan, Step Up Oklahoma, failed to pass on February 12th, Bartlesville Superintendent Chuck McCauley began polling other superintendents across the state to gauge their boards’ interest in discussing a suspension of classes.

 

It appears that districts serving a majority of the state’s public school students are interested in discussing a suspension. The Oklahoma Education Association met with a large number of school superintendents earlier this week and reached consensus on a statewide shutdown, with an initial date of April 23. But a hue and cry from teachers across the state led the OEA to advance the beginning of a suspension to April 2, the day after a 2003 law requires that the state adopt an education budget. The state legislature has repeatedly flouted its own law, only once actually adopting a budget on time.

 

Bartlesville High School students staged a 22-minute walkout earlier this month to protest $22 million in school funding cuts after the Step Up Oklahoma plan failed. Since then students at other schools across the state have followed suit.

 

To comply with the Open Meeting Act, the board will convene the meeting at 5:30 at the district’s Education Service Center.  A plurality of the board members will promptly vote to reconvene the meeting at 5:45 at the high school. The meeting at the school will begin by recognizing Bartlesville's Academic All-State student, the swimming, basketball, pom, and wrestling teams, and high school principal LaDonna Chancellor.

 

That will be followed by public comment, You will be limited to 5 minutes per speaker. The Superintendent’s Report will include an overview of a revenue and expenditures plan to solve the state school funding crisis. The only action topics for the meeting will be a recommendation to authorize the superintendent to close all district schools for a set number of days if a teacher “walkout” occurs and to add instructional minutes to the school day at Bartlesville High School beginning in mid-March to accommodate a prolonged suspension.