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Bartlesville Public Schools' (BPS) accomplishments and bright future take the spotlight during the BPS Foundation's State of the Schools Luncheon.

Superintendent Chuck McCauley was the keynote speaker during the BPSF's State of the Schools Luncheon on Wednesday. McCauley addressed COVID-19 ahead of the upcoming school year. He said masks will be recommended, but not enforced.

McCauley said some people will where face coverings and others won't; the choice to wear masks or not is solely up to the individual. He said BPS will continue to do the best they can to serve its students, staff and community.

Quarantines will also be different at Bartlesville Public Schools this year. When the area is sitting in elevated coronavirus levels like we are currently, McCauley said the District will go through its contact tracing methods, and instead of quarantining an entire class, parents will be informed about a positive case in their student's class so that they can make quarantine decisions as they see fit. He said those that test positive for the virus would be asked to stay home just like they would if a student or staff member had the flu.

And while the virtual option is still available to students, McCauley said they only anticipate one-percent of students will take courses solely online compared to the 20-percent of students that were in online learning in 2020. 

When discussing academics, McCauley said students at Bartlesville Public Schools scored an average of 22.8 on the ACT last year. McCauley said Bartlesville's students scored well above the state and national average when it came to ACT testing. He said the ACT is the biggest, most widely accepted test in terms of student achievement and college admission for the future.

McCauley said U.S. News & World Report continues to rank Bartlesville High School as a top-tier school in Oklahoma. He also highlighted how Bartlesville Public Schools was also named a Project Lead the Way Distinguished District again after the 2020-2021 school year. You can read more on that story.

Links to other highlights that were discussed during the State of the Schools Luncheon can be found below:

• Wayside Elementary School Named a National Blue Ribbon School
• Cheryl Fentress Receives Presidential Award for Science and Math
• BPS Internship Program Highlighted by Oklahoma State Department of Education
• Former Bruin Swimmer Earns Big XII Accolades and Qualifies for 2021 Olympic Trials
• Bruin Basketball Sophomore Castillo Gets Invite to  Attend USA Basketball 16 and Under National Training Camp

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Personnel additions were highlighted by McCauley later in the afternoon. McCauley said they now have three elementary counselors. He said they've added a second elementary assistant principal, a third school resource officer, and six LPN nurses to provide a nurse at each school site in the District.

McCauley would go on to share information on BPSF's Bruins on the Run. He said they did not offer this in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they are excited to bring back this student-mentor program for Bartlesville fifth graders in 2021. Bruins on the Run is ready for its third season.

Information on the upcoming BPS Bond Issue Election on Tuesday,  Aug. 10 was shared during the event. Early voting is available on Thursday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the first floor of Bartlesville City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Avenue. We will have more on this election in the days ahead. To get a jump start in your research for the election, click here.

The State of the Schools Luncheon is Bartlesville Public Schools Foundation's biggest fundraising event of the year. If you wish to learn more about BPSF or make a donation, click here.