The Oklahoma City Public School Board of Education meeting was packed with angry community members on Monday night.
Many people in the crowd felt the district was being dishonest about a proposal to close a local elementary school.
Last Wednesday, OKCPS administrators released information about their proposal to close North Highlands Elementary in northeast Oklahoma City, just five days before the school board was set to vote on it.
Community member Steve Davis thinks the only reason administrators did release information, is because he and others got word of their proposal, and announced it on Facebook.
He thinks the district intended to close the school with little community input.
"This was absolutely a conspiracy to absolutely attack this neighborhood and this school. And we need to call it what it is… call it what it is."
But Superintendent Aurora Lora says that’s not true.
She says she did consider closing the school—because she couldn’t find qualified teachers and principals to fill vacancies—but had decided against it.
"As of Wednesday morning, I was actually not planning to not move forward with this proposal, but then it got out anyway on social media, so…"
Lora says the attention has brought qualified candidates out of the woodwork, and she now feels optimistic about the school’s future.
