Tulsa Public Schools board voted 6-1 on Oct. 19, 2026, to close and consolidate 17 school sites, beginning with the 2027-28 school year. The action addresses a $12 million budget shortfall that the district says would otherwise drain its fund balance and leave it unable to pay employees by fall 2028. Board Vice President Calvin Moniz cast the lone dissenting vote, citing concerns about the district's capacity to carry out the closures, according to a district news release and a report from the Tulsa Flyer.
The closures affect 14 elementary schools, two middle schools, and one alternative program. The Tulsa Flyer reported that the plan eliminates approximately 10,000 seats and directly affects more than 4,700 students who will be relocated to designated receiving schools. The superintendent's recommendation, detailed in an attachment to the board agenda, also includes new proposed boundary maps.
Details of the closures
- Anderson Elementary
- Bell Elementary
- Dolores Huerta Elementary
- Greenwood Leadership Academy
- Hoover Elementary
- Kerr Elementary
- Key Elementary
- Marshall Elementary
- Mitchell Elementary
- Peary Elementary
- Robertson Elementary
- Sequoyah Elementary
- Springdale Elementary
- Unity Learning Academy
- Central Middle School
- Thoreau Demonstration Academy
- Tulsa MET Middle and High
According to the superintendent's recommendation, the closures are projected to save $11.1 million (including $8.5 million in staffing plan reductions and $2.6 million in reduced operational costs). The board also directed the superintendent to find an additional $1.5 million in central-office savings, bringing the total target to approximately $12.6 million. The district has already cut $6.6 million from its administrative budget for the current school year, KTUL reported.
Public Radio Tulsa reported that all schools on the closure list housed fewer than 400 students and had less than 65 percent of their building capacity in use. TPS enrollment has fallen to about 31,600 students, a decline of more than 5,000 over the past five to six years. CFO Kristen Stephens told the board that projected declines would cause six more elementary schools to dip below 60 percent capacity within two years, the Tulsa Flyer reported.
What the plan spares
The superintendent's recommendation explicitly excludes adjustments to the current staffing plan, increases to the maximum student-to-teacher ratio, reductions in special education or multilingual learner services, and salary freezes. A hiring freeze with exceptions for certain positions is included. Staffing savings are expected to come from attrition (retirements, resignations, and departures) rather than layoffs. Each affected school will receive a Transition Specialist to assist with staff relocations. Any staff eliminations, including in central office, would require board approval, district documents show.
Transportation and boundaries
The district is working with Hop Skip Drive to model transportation routes for the 2027-28 school year based on the new boundaries. Board question-and-response materials indicate that additional elementary routes will likely be needed, but travel time is expected to remain about the same or decrease slightly. The district is considering asking parents to sign up for transportation services to improve routing and is also looking at changing school start times. Special education students remain legally guaranteed transportation.
Dissenting vote and community engagement
Board Vice President Calvin Moniz was the only member to vote against the plan. The Tulsa Flyer reported that he said his concerns were about the district's ability to implement the closures as planned. The district held more than 50 community engagement sessions and gathered over 1,000 survey responses before the vote, according to a Tulsa Public Schools news release. The Tulsa Flyer noted that the plan was presented to the board less than four weeks before the vote.
Similar consolidations in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City Public Schools carried out a comparable effort under the name "Pathway to Greatness" from 2018 to 2020, closing 15 schools and reconfiguring 17 others. The plan, led by Superintendent Sean McDaniel, drew significant community opposition but was followed by a $955 million bond package in 2022, the largest in the district's history, according to The Oklahoman and Oklahoma Voice. TPS's plan to close 17 schools exceeds the 15 closed under that initiative.
In 2024, Oklahoma City Public Schools under Superintendent Jamie Polk restructured 50 central-office positions, eliminating roles including deputy superintendent and chief technology officer. That restructuring saved $3.3 million, of which $3 million was redirected to hire 43 elementary teachers aimed at reducing class sizes, KOCO reported.
In 2017, Oklahoma City Public Schools under Superintendent Aurora Lora proposed closing five elementary schools and converting Northeast Academy into a middle school in response to $30 million in state budget cuts. The district's studies at that time found that a minimum of about 300 students was needed to achieve cost efficiencies at a school site, according to Free Press Oklahoma City.
State context
The Oklahoma State Department of Education maintains records of school district annexations and consolidations from 1977 through 2026. The records show a long history of district-level consolidations across the state, primarily involving small rural districts. Most of these are whole-district mergers rather than individual school closures within a single district, the agency's data indicate.