Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson spelled out a $609 million TPS bond proposal to members of the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Executive Committee on Monday.

Meeting virtually, the Executive Committee recommended that the Chamber Board of Directors endorse the package -- which goes before voters April 7 -- when the Board convenes jointly with the Board of Advisors on Feb. 17.

TPS, which has about 33,000 students and 5,000 employees, is battling a $22 million budget deficit, Johnson said.

“The critical piece to receiving these dollars is that it would keep us from having to use general fund dollars to do things we have to do,” she said. “We have to do roofs. We have to do HVAC. There are safety measures that we have to take care of…

“…The more that we can actually get our budget in a place where we’re not in a deficit situation, then we can actually put more dollars into more instructional levels of support.”

The bond package is divided into four parts, each of which will be voted upon separately:

• $276 million for safe learning environments
• Nearly $201 million for learning opportunities and career development
• Roughly $105 million for student and staff technology
• And $27.2 million for transportation

Johnson pointed out to the virtual audience improvements being made at TPS.

The district’s chronic absenteeism rate has decreased by 8%, and compared to the start of last school year, it had 100 fewer teaching vacancies.

Also, TPS’s graduation rate increased 5% from 2023-24, and from 2023 to 2025, every grade from third to eighth increased proficiency in math and reading.

In community meetings with district leadership, voters have requested that TPS to better prepare students for college and career choices, address early foundations in literacy and math and hire more highly qualified teachers and staff, said Sean Berkstresser, chief strategy officer for TPS.

By law, funds from bond proposals cannot fund operations such as teacher pay.

“The bond can’t directly invest in salaries like you heard me say, but we do believe there are a lot of investments in this bond package to help make teachers’ jobs easier,” he said.

Passage of school bonds require a 60% supermajority, as opposed to the 50%-plus-one simple majority.

“It definitely causes me to lose a little bit more sleep in knowing that we have to have a higher percentage,” Johnson said. “Therefore, we feel like we have to be overly communicative with our team members about the need to get out and vote.

“…With that percentage, we can’t take for granted that we are going to get that. And we typically have a low voter turnout when it’s not the primary, so we know we have a lot of work to do there.”

Johnson became permanent TPS superintendent in late 2023. She is a graduate of McLain High School and former principal at three north Tulsa schools.

“We feel excited about what this is going to mean for our young people,” Johnson said. “They deserve to have a quality experience, and we’re doing quite a bit of work in order to make that happen.”