Parents and neighborhood volunteers in east Tulsa say closing two elementary schools could undo years of community investment and disrupt special-education services for some of the district's most vulnerable students.

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson proposed closing 17 campuses at a Monday, Sept. 21, school board meeting, a plan that would affect 4,726 students from 4,037 families, the Oklahoma Eagle reported. The school board is scheduled to vote Oct. 19. If approved, closures would take effect in the 2027-28 school year.

Among the 17 sites are Dolores Huerta Elementary and Hoover Elementary, both in east and midtown Tulsa. Johnson said each had fewer than 375 students last year. Dolores Huerta students would be reassigned to Skelly Elementary or Disney Elementary. Hoover students would go to Skelly or MacArthur Elementary.

Melissa Lippard, a volunteer with the Columbus Neighborhood Association near Dolores Huerta, told the Tulsa Flyer the school anchors daily life in the area. She recalled the building catching fire in February 1980 and the discomfort neighbors felt during the year and a half it sat empty.

The association received a $30,000 grant from Partner Tulsa in August to bring art to the community and restore blighted areas. Part of that money was earmarked for a patch of land between the community pool and school grounds. Lippard said a closure could create a new blighted stretch in the same neighborhood the grant was meant to improve.

"As we are trying to repair some blight-y areas, if they are going to close the school, are we going to get another blight-y area in our neighborhood? … So I'd like a plan. But ideally, I'd like them to keep it open and figure it out somewhere else," Lippard said.

TPS board member Stacey Woolley raised a similar concern at a Sept. 8 board meeting, before the closure list was public. Woolley said the district needed to consider what would go into a closed building to keep it from becoming a blight on the neighborhood.

At Hoover Elementary, Nichole Dean's son has received special-education services since he was 3. He is now a first grader. Dean said Hoover has an autism program and sensory rooms her son relies on, and she is not confident those supports will be available at Skelly or MacArthur. Federal law requires that a student's Individual Education Program (IEP) accommodations follow them between schools, but Dean said the physical resources and teacher relationships her son depends on are harder to transfer.

Stephanie Pilgrim, a midtown parent who sent all three of her children to Hoover, said she bought her home because of its proximity to the school. She said she worries consolidation will crowd remaining campuses and push families out of the district.

The district has lost nearly 6,000 enrolled students over the past decade. TPS enrollment stands at nearly 31,700 this fall. Last fiscal year, the general fund lost $20 million in federal revenue as pandemic relief funding expired.

Johnson said the closures would save $2.6 million initially and $11.1 million over time. About $8.5 million of those savings would come from staffing at closed sites. The district also recommended $1.5 million in central office cuts.

Karen Vesper, a 13-year teacher at Dolores Huerta, said staff learned the school was on the closure list at a 3 p.m. meeting Monday, Sept. 21, hours before the public announcement. She urged parents to write letters and call school board members.

TPS is hosting six community information sessions between Tuesday, Sept. 29, and Wednesday, Oct. 14. The first is Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Martin Regional Library, 2601 S. Garnett Road. A community survey remains open through Friday, Oct. 16. The board votes Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Education Service Center, 3027 S. New Haven Ave.