Even though Tulsa Public Schools said it's on track to meet English proficiency goals for multilingual students, problems of teacher vacancies and lack of student attendance were still front-and-center at a board of education meeting Monday night.
"It’s not for lack of trying, but we need more people to apply," said Dr. Laura Grisso, TPS' executive director of language and cultural services.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson said the well-being of the students in her district is being hindered by them not showing up to class.
“We hope to drive them continuously towards improved results," Johnson said, "It becomes difficult to do that on a very consistent, sustained basis when our students are not present on a daily basis.”
There was some marginal good news at the meeting. Johnson announced that nine schools in the district had gone from F-rated to D-rated.
Tulsa Public Schools has been under intense pressure to solve a myriad of issues from vacancies to reading scores, with State Superintendent Ryan Walters alluding to stripping the district of its accreditation over the summer.
