Stillwater Public Schools

Stillwater Public Schools
Type and location
Type Public, Primary, Secondary, Co-Educational
Grades Elementary K-5
Middle School 6-7
Junior High School 8-9
High School 10-12
Region Payne County
Country United States of America
Location 314 South Lewis Street
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074
District information
Superintendent Ann Caine
Schools 9
Budget $42,322,000
Students and staff
Students 5,463
Teachers 341
Student-teacher ratio 16:1
Athletic conference 6A District 4
Other information
Website www.stillwaterschools.com

The Stillwater Public School District is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. The Stillwater school district has nine schools together with an alternative education program.[1]

The district is managed by the Superintendent Ann Caine, who works under the direction of a five person board.[2]

The mascot of both the district and the high school is the Pioneers.[3]

Schools

High school

Middle school

Elementary schools

All elementary schools host grades pre-k through fifth grade.

Open Records Act Controversy

On December 13, 2011, Superintendent Ann Caine and the Stillwater Public Schools school board discussed changing the traditional Academic Term school year calendar to a Year-round school calendar at the local school board meeting. The board decided to continue with the traditional school calendar, but the local newspaper, The Stillwater NewsPress, reported that "Stillwater Public Schools is heading to a continuous learning academic calendar, but it won’t be in 2012."[4]

In an attempt to learn more about the decision making process for the calendar change, a parent made an Open Records Act Request through the Freedom of information in the United States request to Stillwater Schools for information about the calendar committee. On December 16, 2011, FOIOklahoma, a Freedom of Information Act watchdog, reported that the school district's calendar committee had met for "two months...No public notice. No agendas. No meeting minutes." The parent who requested the Open Records information was told she would have to pay a $250 search fee because her request "would clearly cause excessive disruption of the District's essential functions," which violated the school district and the state of Oklahoma's Open Records Act policy.[5]

By February 2012, Superintendent Caine had given several reasons that the district did not initially fulfill the Open Records request. FOI reported on February 18, 2012, that the district did not keep a list of committee members, and Ann Caine told the Stillwater Journal on January 19, 2012 that she did not want to open committee members to being confronted by an angry parent.[6][7]

Eventually the district released limited emails regarding the calendar committee. Several comments on the Stillwater Online forum reflected a concern in the community that the Open Records Act request and denial was not reported by the NewsPress.[8]

School Expansion Purchases

Athletic Village Purchase

On June 6, 2012, The Stillwater NewsPress reported "Stillwater Public Schools closed on Cimarron Plaza, purchasing the property from Cimarron Tex-Ag Limited Partners for $4.3 million after a week’s delay." This purchase generated comment in the community because the district purchased the land before asking voters for bond money. "The system will ask voters in the next five to seven years to pass a bond issue to pay for the land and fund development of the sports complex." [9]

2013 Land Purchase

The Stillwater School district purchased 21.5 acres of land and two buildings at the cost of $2.4 million, which was financed through a loan in November 2013. “This is a really good purchase for us,” said Terry McCarty, assistant superintendent in charge of operations for the district told the Stillwater NewsPress. [10]

School Shooting

On September 26, 2012, an 8th grade student brought a gun to Stillwater Junior High and used it at approximately 7:50 in the morning to commit suicide in a crowded area of the school, near the library. [11]

2014 School Budget Reduction

During the 2013-2014 academic year, Stillwater Public Schools considered options for a predicted budget shortfall. The amount of the budget shortfall has had conflicting reports.

Five Point Budget Reduction Plan

In response to the budget reduction, Superintendent Ann Caine and the committee the district appointed to look at possible budget cuts and offered a recommendations. One suggestion included eliminating or modifying the Stillwater High School block schedule. Students responded to the proposed cut with a Change.org petition. The students and community petitioned Ann Caine to 'Keep Stillwater High School's Original Four-Hour Block Schedule' and a #Keeptheblock Facebook Page drew community support. Ann Caine told News 9 that "I feel like I have a noose around my neck, because the issues we are having with funding are forcing us to make decisions we don't want to make." when interviewed about the community backlash in response to the proposed changes, which includes 40 staff reductions. Further backlash occurred at the removal of the SRO, or Student Resource Officer program. [15]


On March 11, 2014, Ann Caine emailed parents and wrote, "I understand there is some misinformation being given via social media about tonight's school board meeting. The budget cuts are not on tonight's board agenda. They will be discussed at the March 24 board meeting at the high school." However, the budget cuts were discussed. The Oklahoma State University news outlet, The Daily O'Collegian, also known as The O'Colly, reported that "Stillwater Board of Education members expressed concern with the pending cuts in a meeting on March 11." [16]

School Reorganization

The Five Point Budget included reorganizing the school district, which is proposed to begin for the 2015-2016 school year. These changes included moving 9th grade class from Stillwater Junior High to Stillwater High School, the 7th grade class from Stillwater Middle School to the Junior High, and the 5th grade class from the various elementary buildings to the middle school.


Alternative education

References

  1. ↑ "Schools". Stillwater Public Schools. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "School Board Members". Stillwater Public Schools. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Stillwater Public Schools, District Profile 2010" (PDF). Stillwater Public Schools. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  4. ↑ O'Bannon, Ricky. "Stillwater school board says expanded calendar coming - but not yet". December 13, 2011. Stillwater NewsPress
  5. ↑ FOIOklahoma. "Stillwater school district won't disclose all members of committee that shaped school calendar policy". December 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ Charles, Michelle. "School calendar change explained." Stillwater Journal. January 19, 2012.
  7. ↑ FOIOklahoma. "Stillwater school superintendent acknowledges that committee members shouldn't expect to be anonymous". February 18, 2011.
  8. ↑ Stillwater Online Forum. Stillwater School District May Be Violating the Law. December 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ Hixson, Russell."Stillwater Public Schools finishes Cimarron Plaza purchase." June 6, 2012. Stillwater NewsPress
  10. ↑ Roundtree, Mark. "Stillwater school district to buy land to expand" November 22, 2013. Stillwater Newspress.
  11. ↑ Keeping, Juliana. "School shooting leaves Stillwater stunned." September 26, 2012. NewsOK.
  12. ↑ Roundtree, Mark. "Stillwater schools OK budget." October 9, 2013. Stillwater Newspress.
  13. ↑ Roundtree, Mark. "Decline in state funding pinches budget." January 25, 2014. Stillwater Newspress.
  14. ↑ Roundtree, Mark. "Stillwater panel recommends cuts" March 8, 2014. Stillwater Newspress.
  15. ↑ Dougherty, Justin. "Stillwater Schools plans to make budget cuts." March 11, 2014. News9.
  16. ↑ McClung, Kassie. "Stillwater Public Schools making cuts." March 11, 2014. O'Colly.

External links

Coordinates: 36°07′08″N 97°03′26″W / 36.118793°N 97.057297°W