Board presses OKCPS staff on college-and-career centers: survey reach, partner MOUs, transportation and sustainability

Oklahoma City Public Schools district staff on Wednesday walked the board through the FLEET process that identified programming for the district——s new college-and-career centers but received repeated questions from trustees about survey representativeness, partner commitments, transportation and long-term sustainability.

Dr. Galloway, a district presenter, described FLEET (Flexible Learning Educational Environment Team) as a February——2023 process that assembled 16 district administrators and later site teams to combine student, family, staff and workforce feedback with labor-market data. He said the process narrowed potential programming through site-level teams that considered local student interests, workforce needs and available industry partnerships.

Trustees challenged staff on the underlying data. Chair Paula Lewis and other board members said the family and workforce feedback presented in the slide deck looked limited; Dr. Galloway reported he saw roughly 1,200 family responses and about 3,600 student responses to the Google-form surveys and said roughly 71 workforce partners provided responses. Trustees asked staff to provide disaggregated counts by school and to confirm which schools got survey invitations; staff agreed to produce the raw breakdowns and to return exact counts.

Board members also raised equity and access concerns. Trustees asked how students who want a program not available at their home school will access it; district staff said students may transfer if the receiving site has program and enrollment capacity. For the first year the district will allow transfers without guaranteed transportation, then assess demand and consider transportation options in subsequent years.

Participants pressed staff about sustainability of equipment and staffing. Trustees noted the amount of specialized equipment shown on slides and asked who will pay to maintain or replace that equipment over time. District staff said much of the equipment was built into the 2022 bond budget and that staff are pursuing MOUs with industry partners to provide in-kind support, instructors or other resources; staff said they will present signed MOUs to the board by July 1 where possible.

Staff also outlined specific programming and partnerships: cybersecurity curriculum drawn from existing CTE materials, an AOPA-supported aviation/piloting curriculum at John Marshall, biotechnology partnerships with OSU-OKC that could yield college-level coursework, and MetroTech partnerships to deliver CNA and other health-care pathways. Dr. Malou Smith highlighted outcome tracking and said a senior exit survey showed a 79% response rate last year (about 1,560 seniors), with 80% of respondents planning further education and 15% planning to enter the workforce.

Board members asked staff to improve public-facing communications (clearer website navigation, accessible program lists, QR-code labeling and Spanish translation) and to provide concise talking points for families so the district can explain program placement, transfer options and sustainability plans. Several trustees urged prioritizing fidelity over breadth: scale fewer programs well rather than offering many programs without long-term support.

The board did not act on any program-specific approvals during the session; staff said enrollment openings will begin March 1 and MOUs and more detailed data will be provided to the board ahead of implementation.