Tulsa Public Schools officials will spend the weekend coming up with a plan for students to make up time lost during the two-week teacher walkout.
It will be up to the TPS board to approve that plan Monday night, but parents will be notified as soon as possible. Superintendent Deborah Gist said a district instruction policy may help with the planning.
"We are above the state minimum in terms of the number of minutes. So, what that does is it gives us some flexibility," Gist said. "Now, we don’t want to go down to the state minimum, because we’re above it for a reason. Our students need more time in school."
Making up time will help support staff who didn’t work and weren’t paid for the first week of the walkout. Gist said TPS found work for them to do during the second week.
Teachers return to work Monday, and students will be back in class Tuesday. Gist acknowledged there are many teachers frustrated by the walkout ending without all their funding demands being met.
"We’re having school. And so, I’m confident that the majority of our teachers don’t want to have their students in classrooms alone without them," Gist said.
The district and Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association are discussing ways to continue education advocacy, including allowing delegations of teachers to visit the capitol.
