Having raised over $100,000.00 with over 350 individual donors, Dr. April Grace, who is the Shawnee Superintendent of Public Schools, will run for Oklahoma State Superintendent.

Grace has been part of the education community for over 30 years. She has been a classroom teacher, building administrator, assistant superintendent, and superintendent.

“I have always believed it was my job to serve the students and families in my school community in a way that allows every single student to find success. I look forward to the opportunity to take my experiences and use them in serving the more than seven hundred thousand students and their families across the great state of Oklahoma.

“We always face challenges, and challenges are no stranger to me. In Shawnee we opened our schools 5 days a week in the fall of last year by providing four different options to our families. While it was challenging, I am proud to say we closed school more days due to weather than to COVID. While we have made strides within the Oklahoma education system to overcome challenges, we still have room to improve.

“To have a prepared workforce we must have an educated workforce. As State Superintendent I will work to ensure our families’ voices are heard and our children’s educational needs are met. Understanding that critical race theory has no place in our PK-12 classrooms,

“I will ensure strong unbiased curriculum standards for our students and work to keep educators focused on meeting the needs of students and teaching our standards. I look forward to traveling throughout Oklahoma in the upcoming months and hearing from the people of our great state,” said Grace