Guthrie Public Schools

I know this column is long overdue.  I’ve started to write an update many times since we started the school year.  Every time I began, an outlandish announcement, a sudden unenforceable or impossible mandate or another unhinged edict was presented to me as the leader of our school district from the governing agency for education in Oklahoma.  Each event was designed to generate headlines and usually lacked substance that would actually help our students, teachers or district.  I chose each time to pause and see if we could find calm waters since such an environment typically promotes better reflection than communication in the chaos of a storm.  On Tuesday afternoon, we found the calm waters I was seeking.

In contrast, the start of this school year has been remarkably smooth.  We have shown a modest increase in enrollment and the construction projects are ahead of schedule.  Cotteral Elementary is now complete with the conclusion of final sitework along Noble Avenue.  The Charter Oak Elementary expansion is ahead of schedule and we expect to move into those classrooms over Fall Break ahead of the original Winter Break deadline.  We are in the final design stages of the new practice facility for our wrestling program with construction beginning this winter.  All of these projects are part of the bond issues overwhelmingly approved by our voters in 2019 and 2024.  Also, our Fall sports teams are all seeing impressive success and we will soon be involved in the playoffs.  We just completed another installment the best homecoming I know.  This has been a fun time to be a Bluejay! 

You may have seen that we had a true scare on Friday, September 19^th.  Members of our high school choir and director Bill Perring were returning from a fundraising opportunity in Stillwater when they were involved in a head-on collision.  I’m happy to report that injuries were non-life threatening and all involved are recovering from the accident.  Members of the choir and Mr. Perring returned to Stillwater last week for the next fundraising opportunity.  While it was scary to see the wreckage, knowing that everyone escaped serious injuries provided reassurance that safety features in our vehicle protected everyone as designed.

As we move forward in our community and our state, it is my hope that we can re-center our focus on how we view education.  At the start of the past two school years, I’ve pledged to our teachers and staff that I would stand in the gap between them and any elected official who attempted to use our students as political pawns.  My message to them was simple, I will stand by you so you can do your job while continuing to hold them accountable for the expectations of our district.  That promise came with the added understanding that I would not put a target on their back by matching rhetoric coming from the elected education leader of our state.  Anyone who knows me and the passion I have for our students understands how hard it has been for me to remain silent and professional in the face of the unending chatter about education in Oklahoma.  We have a lot of challenges in this state and a long way to go in growth for how we educate our students.  This rhetoric without substance and a lack of direction over three years has only delayed any possible progress.  In the end, our teachers did what we always do by placing our kids first!  I continue to be proud of their efforts.  Now it is time to move forward!