The Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation is hosting four different meetings at the four quadrants of the district. The foundation wants to make sure that the school board decides on a superintendent residents approve of.
"The people are the boss," says Oklahoma City Public Schools Board member Wilfredo Santos Rivera. "They are the patrons. They are the voters. They are the ones that have the power."
The 2008-2009 school year is coming up fast and board members are hoping to get someone to fill the top spot before it starts. Now Oklahoma City residents have a chance to add quality to knock down the quantity of candidates.
"Our goal here is to bridge the community at the schools, connect them to the schools in as many ways as we can," says Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation Communication Coordinator Melissa Milligan.
The OCPS Foundation will hand out surveys at the meetings asking what qualities participants believe the next superintendent should have. Qualities on the list include someone who understands issues for urban schools, someone who lives or has lived in Oklahoma and someone who worked as a teacher, principal or superintendent before.
"It's more prioritizing which common-sense qualities are the most important to the community because everyone has a different background," says Milligan.
According to the school district's website, the deadline to send in resumes for the superintendent position is May 2nd. Milligan says a compiled report of residents' opinions will be completed before that and given to the school board.
"I hope we listen to what the people have to say and should not be what we want to do but what the people want," says Rivera.
Rivera says the hope is to have a pick by the end of May or the beginning of June so whomever they choose should expect to be ready for the next school year.
Regarding the meetings, this is a first for Oklahoma City, but it has been done in other states and Milligan says trends show low participation. Because of the controversy for Oklahoma City, she's hoping for a different kind of trend.
Date/Time/Location of meetings
Tuesday, April 22; 6.00pm; John Marshall High School Auditorium (12201 N. Portland, Oklahoma City, OK 73120)
Thursday, April 24; 6.00pm; Douglass High School Auditorium (900 N. Martin Luther King Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73117)
Monday, April 28; 6.00pm; Capitol Hill High School Auditorium (500 SW 36th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73109)***Meeting conducted in Spanish***
Tuesday, April 29; 6.00pm; U.S. Grant High School Auditorium (5016 S. Pennsylvania, Oklahoma City, OK 73119)
