Oklahoma State Department of Education restores Tulsa Public Schools' accreditation status

OKLAHOMA CITY — At their monthly meeting, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) agreed Tulsa Public Schools will no longer need to report back to the OSDE every month and their accreditation is no longer in question.

FOX23 reported on this situation back in August when TPS received an "accredited with decencies status."

Being accredited with deficiencies means a school site has failed to meet one or more of the standards, but the deficiency does not seriously detract from the quality of the school's education program.

After TPS's presentation at the board meeting, the board said TPS had made more than enough progress to be set free from having to provide monthly reports.

Ever since she took over as superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, Dr. Ebony Johnson has been the lead on these reports.

"We're rolling our sleeves up, we're going into school buildings, answering questions. We are sitting down and listening and we're making changes as a result," said Johnson.

Some of the new announcements in Thursday's presentation were the hiring of an internal auditor and spikes in attendance and enrollment.

Dr. Johnson also spoke about the threats that were made to schools across the district last week, saying, "I recently did a video with Chief Larson, who is the Tulsa Police Chief, to discuss the seriousness of social media threats and poor choices, and impulsive choices, that have serious consequences."

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Walters approved of the changes made by TPS. "I have tremendous confidence in the leadership, the direction there. I just think that they've gone above and beyond here...we can start saying we'll update as need be."

Dr. Johnson said, "We just appreciate the support. We appreciate the collaboration and we want exactly what you want, which is our students to be just amazingly successful."

TPS and OSDE have agreed to meet whenever either party feels it's necessary.

TPS has also recommended sending the state board monthly fiscal and academic reports to ensure their progress will continue.