Area legislators showed up at McLoud’s legislative breakfast last week and were met by a huge crowd, dominated by many teachers, some staff, even students from McLoud Schools.
It turned out to be a standing room only crowd, many of who were interested in preserving McLoud’s four-day school week. McLoud schools normally are out on Friday, but were in school the day of last Friday’s breakfast making up a snow day.
Some of the students and staff reportedly came to the breakfast in a McLoud school bus that was parked on a street near the American Legion building, the site of the breakfast.
State Sen. Ron Sharp was the first legislator to address those in attendance and referring especially to the educators listening said, “I know the hard work and dedication you do each day. I support local control.
“How many days you go to school each week should be between you, your board and superintendent,” to which he drew a loud applause.
Sharp, a retired educator himself who spent 38 years as a classroom teacher, told the audience, “We’ll have about $85.4 million less to spend than last year.”
He pointed to the top three business sectors in Oklahoma, oil and gas, agriculture and Aerospace, noting that all three are experiencing some difficulty.
He spoke briefly about he I-40 widening project from the Oklahoma City metro area eastward to Shawnee.
Sharp believes growth in the McLoud area will be “tremendous” with the widening project and the Turner Turnpike extension.
“It’s not a matter of are you going to grow. You will have to learn how to control your growth,” he said.
He indicated a dedication of the new Choctaw exit will be held some time in near future. He predicted the project will be clear to U.S. 177 by the year 2025.
Addressing the turnpike project, Sharp thinks it will be completed between June and September.
State Rep. Kevin Wallace represents House District 32 that covers all of Lincoln County and some of Logan County.
He chairs the House Appropriations Committee and told those attending the breakfast the Board of Equalization met earlier in the week.
“The revenue is down from December to February,” he said, adding, “We’re operating on Fiscal Year 2020 that ends June 30.”
Wallace, who drew the ire of a great many of the educators in the room because of his stance on Senate Bill 441, pointed to Oil and Gas revenue down substantially.
“We can only appropriate 95 percent of the funds we have to spend,” he said. “We have to be cautious moving ahead. We have to have a balanced budget, the State Constitution requires that,” he reminded them.
The Appropriations Chair, who voted in support of SB 411 dealing with requirements on the four-day school week, said, “I don’t care how many days you go to school.”
Some of the educators shouted, “Your vote doesn’t reflect that!”
He countered with, “I’m looking for outcomes. You’re going 158 days.”
Wallace said he has four schools in his legislative district, Davenport, White Rock, Carney and Agra that go four days.
He told the attendees that McLoud is receiving $8,568.70 per pupil. McLoud School Supt. Steve Stanley responded by saying, “That more than $8,000 per pupil is not going just to educate that pupil. That’s for other cost to help operate the district as well.”
Wallace said that 51.3 percent of the funds the Legislature is appropriating is going to education.
Wallace told the audience that McLoud’s elementary and middle schools are meeting the requirements of the four-day school week but the high school is not.
Stanley said, “We’ve improved our test scores, attendance and our discipline.”
Wallace said, “Your graduation rate is 76 percent. You probably know that.”
One of the principals spoke up saying, “Since we went to four days, we’ve had 12,000 fewer absences.”