The Tulsa   Public Schools 2026 5 year Bond Package for $609 million will be voted on April 7th.  The law requires a school bond to pass by 60 percent. There will be four different propositions to vote on and the projects they support are listed below with each box for a separate proposition as listed on the Tulsa Public Schools website.

TPS Superintendent Ebony Johnson spoke at a forum on March 10 saying the district’s $609 million bond package is necessary.

In Proposition 4 the request for adding new vehicles is to transport students to internships, off-campus classes and extracurricular activities, as well as the Driver’s ed program.

The Driver’s Ed program would also use the money to cover any of the student’s fees to obtain a driver’s permit and taking the test.

As to the technology  and school environments Johnson stated at the forum“(Teachers) want to know that technology is on point,” she said. “The bond will allow us … to take teachers around to our sites and see we have newly renovated sites, we have beautiful buildings and we have amazing technology.” “We owe it to our taxpayers to have state-of-the-art facilities and to ensure that across all of our 77 sites, as well as some of our sites where our team members work,” Johnson said.

Johnson also spoke about how improving the athletic facilities and programs could help to  reduce chronic absenteeism.  Presently chronic absentee  sees students in the thousands absent for more than 10 % of the school year.

TPS claims that the new school bond will not raise taxes.  After looking back at the 2021 TPS school bond for $414 million, the millage rate on the property tax will be the same for the 2026 bond package. However the actual  amount of money that millage rate will produce for the 2026 bond package is much larger at $609 million.  From the 2021 bond package we see a 47% increase in funds from the property tax for the 2026 bond package despite it being the same millage rate and length of time.

Some of 47% increase from TPS’s millage property tax rate may be due to new housing  and businesses being built, but a large part of that will be from the increased valuation of homes due to the steep increase in housing prices, which has increased property  taxes to property owners and therefore could be seen as a property tax increase from the owner’s point of view.

Another point not mentioned is that when the 2021 school bond lapses in June, and if another bond issue is not approved – taxes will go down.

After looking back at the 2015 and 2021 School Bond issues, there are still unfinished projects  at the end of each Bond proposal’s duration.   The $415 million 2015 Bond Package projects finished in 2024  with $22,674,139.99 worth of work being done after 2021, the Bond’s end.  The 2021 bond package at the end of 2025, had spent only $298,030,786.82 of the $414,000,000.00.  With a finish date of the Bond being in June of 2026, that is over one quarter of the projects or $114,969,213.18 not completed with six months to go. With the 2015 project being for $415 million and the 2021 bonds for $414 million, it would appear that the 2021 projects are being completed at a much slower pace.

Basically TPS would be spending the approximately $115 million left over from the 2021 Bond as well as the $609 million from the 2026 Bond in the same time frame.  With the recent layoffs in the administrative staff it may prove difficult to handle that amount of money efficiently.

Proposition 1: Student Opportunities

Proposition 1 contains programs and resources to boost student engagement and attendance, learning opportunities, and career development. This includes but not limited to:

Proposition 2: Learning Environments

Proposition 2 will provide modernized HVAC, roofing, and more to cut energy costs and improve building conditions for students and staff. This includes but is not limited to:

Proposition 3: Technology

Proposition 3 will deliver modern, reliable technology for students and staff — from classroom tools to essential business systems — backed by strong cybersecurity and dependable infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to:

Proposition 4: Transportation

Proposition 4 will expand access to driver’s ed, small-group trips, athletic events, and other student experiences through the purchase of driver’s ed vehicles, minibuses, and other transportation. This includes but is not limited to: