Groups differ on concepts for proposed downtown Oklahoma City elementary school

Oklahoma City leaders hope to reach compromise for proposed $8.8 million downtown elementary. The project is included in the 2001 MAPS for Kids plan.

BY MEGAN ROLLAND | Published: July 11, 2010 Comment on this article

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

Article Gallery: Groups differ on concepts for proposed downtown Oklahoma City elementary school

More Info

Possible Downtown school sites

Four areas are contenders

Four main areas are being mentioned as potential locations for a new downtown elementary school. They are: Potential sites south of Interstate 40 and north of the Oklahoma River near Wheeler Park. Other specific sites are:

Walker and Sheridan avenues

The vacant lot on the southwest corner of Walker and Sheridan owned by Oklahoma City Urban Renewal and under lease to Devon Energy Corp. for temporary parking.

Old Central High School

The old Central High School, 800 N Harvey, headquarters for Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance Co.

Near downtown YMCA

A park just south of the downtown YMCA at the intersection of NW 4 and E.K. Gaylord Boulevard.

A group of downtown community leaders is drafting plans for a charter school that would open in the fall of 2011 and move into the new downtown facilities when construction is completed.

"We can take this burden off the hands of Oklahoma City Public Schools when they have plenty of issues they are struggling with right now,” said Bob Ross, president of the Inasmuch Foundation, which provided a startup grant to the charter school group. "We can take this and run with this and make it a great school.”

Oklahoma City schools Superintendent Karl Springer said he envisions a district-run school with either defined geographic attendance boundaries, an open enrollment to students anywhere within the district or some combination of both.

"This should be a place where we could have children of poverty and children of wealth sitting together in the same school trying to get into college,” Springer said. "A public school — one where we would be able to focus on the best possible education setting we could.”

Both parties agree there is no need for two elementary schools downtown.

Behind-the-scenes tension over the school bubbled to the surface last month when Oklahoma City School Board members tabled approval of basic project requirements for the school construction until both plans were brought forward for an open discussion.

"If there are two different groups wanting to do the same thing, let's sit down and talk about it,” board member Lyn Watson said. "Let's not make this a Hatfield and McCoy thing. Let's come together as a city and if this is something we need ... let's do it, but let's be smart about it.”

The district's school board will have final say over how the facility is managed.

The building

The proposed downtown elementary school is the last of about 70 school facilities projects under a $470 million plan to rebuild the urban district's dilapidated schools.

Voters approved the MAPS for Kids plan in 2001, and the downtown elementary school was seen as an important piece in the urban redevelopment puzzle.

Under the plan, $8.

Page 1 of 2

1 2 Next