Two seats on the Tulsa School Board will be up for grabs early in 2021.
Filing for the TPS seats plus spots in most of the public school districts within Tulsa County will be December 7-9 at the Tulsa County Election Board.
There will also be filing for city council races in Owasso and Sand Springs plus a special election filing for Tulsa County Treasurer due to the early retirement of Dennis Semler. John Fothergill has been named interim treasurer for Tulsa County.
In Tulsa District 2, Vice President Jania Wester has an expiring term. Wester was elected to the board in April of 2017.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Wester came to the United States to attend college. She received her Bachelor’s in Education from Oral Roberts University and her Master’s in Educational Leadership from Oklahoma State University.
She was first hired as part of the founding faculty of Kendall-Whittier Elementary in Tulsa Public Schools, where she spent 14 years, the last two of those years as one of their assistant principals. She then became the first Hispanic principal of Henry Zarrow International Elementary School, a Tulsa Public Schools language immersion magnet program, for four years.
Schools in that district include Kendall-Whittier, McKinley, Mitchell, Owen, Sequoyah, and Springdale elementary schools; Carver Middle School and Rogers College Middle School; and Rogers College and Booker T. Washington high schools.
In Tulsa District 3, Jennettie Marshall was first elected in April 2017. Her term will expire in February 2021.
Marshall retired from the State of Oklahoma where she worked for the Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Services. She also served the City of Tulsa as a police and fire chaplain and was trained in emergency disaster response and hostage negotiation. In 1994, Marshall established Reclaim Inc., a program that helps families, juveniles and adults.
Marshall attended Phillips Theological Seminary and is completing her seminary coursework through Andersonville Theological Seminary. She is the founding pastor of Living Sanctuary Evangelistic Ministries and previously served as senior pastor of Snowden Chapel and Macedonia Christian Methodist Episcopal churches.
Schools in Marshall’s district include Academy Central, Anderson, Burroughs, Celia Clinton, Hamilton, Hawthorne, John Hope Franklin, Unity Learning Academy, and Whitman elementary schools; Dual Language Academy; Monroe Demonstration Academy; Central Middle School; and McLain High School.
Sharon Whelpley represents Tulsa Tech District No. 18 (Office 6).
Elected to the Board of Education in 2014, Sharon Whelpley served for 20 years on the Broken Arrow School Board. She is a member of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce and works with Build a Better Broken Arrow (BABBA).
In 2012, she was given the Oklahoma Stellar Citizen Award by former Gov. Mary Fallin, and in 2016, was honored with the Broken Arrow Chamber’s Women’s Community Impact Award.
Whelpley has been a resident of Broken Arrow for over 40 years, married to husband Lee, has three children, four grandchildren, and is a member of First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow.
Union District 1 Jeff Bennett
Bennett works for United Airlines. A long-time resident of the Grove Elementary area, he has one son who graduated from Union. He was elected to the Board in a special election Nov. 7, 2006.
Broken Arrow District 1 Steve Allen
Allen has been both a teacher and coach in Broken Arrow schools from 1998 to 2002, and is a 1989 graduate of Broken Arrow schools. He is employed as a senior risk consultant for Commercial Risk Group Inc.
Bixby District 1 Vice President Julie Prox
Prox moved to Oklahoma from Iowa in 2000. In her last job, she was the director of education for a family planning clinic. She is a stay-at-home mom.
- Collinsville District 1 Tim Reed
- Skiatook District 1 Susan Ridenhour
- Sperry District 1
- Berryhill District 1
- Owasso District 1 Pat Vanatta
- Glenpool Office 1 Mike Pendergrass
- Office 4 open
- Office 5 open
- Liberty Office 1
- Keystone Office 1
A board of education primary is set for February 9 if two or more candidates file for a specific office. A candidate who gets 50% plus one vote will win the election and if no one gets that many, the top two vote getters advance to the general election on April 6. If only two candidates file, they will appear only on the April 6 ballot.
Also on December 7-9, candidates can file for municipal races in Owasso (Council Wards 1 and 2) and Sand Springs (at-large and Wards 5 and 6).
Vice Mayor Kelly Lewis from Council Ward 1 is up for re-election. Chris Kelley, who represents Ward 2, is also up for re-election.
In Sand Springs, Beau Wilson in Ward 5 is up for re-election. Sand Springs Mayor James O. Spoon is up for re-election. He is a pharmacist.