Tulsa Public Schools is taking a big hit to its budget because of cuts triggered by Oklahoma’s revenue failure last month.
The district will be short $2.1 million in state appropriations after the state board of education announced $47 million in cuts last week. TPS has already found about $2 million in savings outside of classrooms to offset the loss.
Superintendent Deborah Gist said a workplace safety program saved the district $900,000 in workers compensation costs.
"Of course, the original idea is that those savings would be reinvested in our classrooms, so we're very disappointed about that," Gist said. "But it does help us out with this particular round of cuts."
The district has already been put on notice to expect more cuts next month, when the state board of education is expected to trim another $20 million dollars from its budget.
"We're, of course, doing some analysis to get a ballpark for ourselves," Gist said.
The word on district-level cuts comes just over a week after the district sent its new five-year plan to the TPS board. Gist said district leaders will forge ahead.
"We will handle these budget reductions. We will take care of them," Gist said. "We will have a balanced budget, and we will absolutely move forward with the work that we need to do."
