Owasso for Educational Excellence

09/10/2025

THE BREAD AND CIRCUSES SCHOOL BOARD

The concept of “bread and circuses” to explain voters who elevate their own priorities over those of the greater community is certainly in play here. But that would be overly-simplistic. Besides: the notion of “blaming the voters for the outcome” is far too common.

The Owasso School Board understands Owasso better than we did. The Board understands that
• Although the 9/9 bond actually raises taxes, all people cared about was the part where there was “no net increase in the tax they will pay each year”.
• They really can sneak huge bond proposals past the community in “low turnout special elections”.
• Putting roof repairs in with the non-eesentials and threatening the school community with “leaky roofs, or else” was an effective, if cynical, strategy.

“Bread and Circuses” can placate the mob, but what if the “mob” stays home on election day? The failure here was our inability arouse enough interest in the vast majority of the voters to actually get them to the polls on September 9.

And so, this is what the tiny minority of voters selected:
• Priority on extracurricular program expansion over repairs and renovations district-wide
• District resources not being directed at classrooms
• Repairs for many, if not most, of the schools are again delayed for years
• Spending $69M on the voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program at a time when we are using debt to operate the schools

And bad ‘cess to us that we could not get even 41% of the total who vote to actually invest in excellence by forcing the School Board to change course.

There’s a maxim that is, perhaps, overused:

“We get the Government we deserve.”

But that’s not really true, is it? Schadenfreude aside, no one actually deserves this. Better to say:

WE GET THE GOVERNMENT WE TOLERATE

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09/09/2025

ELECTION DAY
Above all, VOTE.

But if the bond passes, the trajectory of the district will be difficult to change. The School Board already feels entitled to the "Owasso vote", otherwise they would not be treating us with such disrespect. With half of the projected spending in the Long Range Facilities Plan still to come, and all of that being repairs and upgrades, bonds for those repairs will have to pass or the schools will continue to fall into disrepair.

If this bond passes, we will have to replace a majority of the board members with individuals who will properly govern the school district, which will take at least three years...hmmm...just in time for the next bond. And then further reform will take another 2 years at best. Our best chance to stop the insanity is to defeat this bond and force the School Board to face true "Local Control".

Pass or fail, however, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

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09/08/2025

An Open Letter from Maggie Stearman to the Community of Owasso

‼️School Bond Vote Coming Up On Tuesday ‼️
A perspective from a young Owasso homeowner who has had several kids in the owasso school system ( with wonderful teachers btw).

Just because the district can ask for more money doesn’t mean it should. Stewardship means living within a budget, not continually going back to taxpayers for more money.

People say, “This bond is great for the community.” But you know what else is great for the community? Seniors being able to stay in the homes they worked their whole lives to pay off, without being taxed out of them. Young families being able to buy their first home without property taxes pushing their budgets to the breaking point. And children being allowed to enjoy childhood, without being shuffled around in ways that don’t serve them well, like a separate 5th grade center.

We’re also being told this bond “won’t raise taxes.” That is a deceiving statement. What they really mean is it won’t raise the tax rate above the current level. But if this bond doesn’t pass, our property taxes would actually go down as older debt gets paid off. Passing this bond locks taxpayers into higher bills for years to come.

Let’s not forget, many people in our community don’t even participate in public schools. They homeschool, send their children to private schools, or no longer have kids at home. Yet they are still funding Owasso schools through their taxes. We should not keep demanding more and more from them. They should be able to use their own money for what is best for their own families.

Bonds may sound like they’re helping the classroom, but by law, they cannot be used for teacher salaries, smaller class sizes, or everyday learning needs. They only fund buildings, buses, and large projects. So when people say, “It’s for the kids,” the truth is, this bond won’t change what actually happens in the classroom. And if the argument is that bonds “free up” other money for academics, then why aren’t we seeing real improvement in student outcomes?

Every new bond limits our financial flexibility for the future. It keeps Owasso residents stuck in a cycle of paying off old debt while constantly being asked to take on new debt.

There is a better way. The district could:
- Audit current spending to cut waste
- Focus on essential maintenance before building new facilities
- Explore private partnerships for extracurricular projects
- Put academics first

We should not have to keep taking more and more money out of taxpayers pockets. True support means accountability, smart priorities, and protecting families from unnecessary tax hikes. That’s why Owasso should vote NO on this bond.

I have deep respect for teachers and many of them are my friends. This isn’t about opposing education, it’s about the principle of government continually charging people for something our Constitution recognizes as a right. Property ownership is supposed to mean security and stability, yet bonds and ever-rising property taxes treat us like we never truly own our land. If we have to keep paying and paying just to stay in our homes, then do we really own them, or are we simply renting from the government?

If you are a big supporter of these projects, then please consider donating your money to fund them.

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09/08/2025

Need we say more? (But you KNOW we will.)

09/07/2025

PRIORITIES, PRIORITIES
Based on the OPS 2023 Long Range Facilities Plan, all of the schools could have been repaired and upgraded for the price of the February Bond Q1 in the amount (approx.) $193 Million. Instead, the School Board proposed Full Day Pre-K (forcing a new 5th Grade Center), a new Soccer Complex, and new Fine Arts Center.

As a bludgeon to make sure people voted for it, they threw in some repairs and HS roof replacement so people who voted against it were "refusing to fix the roofs". If you didn't want the facilities expansion, supporting the bond meant "Fix the roofs for $193M".

Fast Forward to September. Now we are faced with a $169M Bond for basically the same projects and the HS roof rider is still in there to coerce voters into voting for the whole package.

OUR CHOICES REVEAL OUR PRIORITIES

Forget about what the School Board says about the need to fix our schools. If they really cared about fixing the schools they would not make most of the schools wait until at least 2028 to begin repairs.

Instead of One Question for upwards of $200M to expand facilties into non-core academic arenas, they would be proposing One Question to fix the schools. We would choke on the price tag and wonder "what in blazes have they been doing with the past 6 or so bonds?", but it would probably pass. Certainly, we would not be having this discussion.

No, the Board's priorities have always been with this expansion plan, and it is "their way or the highway".

Here's a question: "Is it possible the Board knows that if they actually ever fixed the schools, then the expansion projects would have to be judged on their absolute merits? How do you convince the community to pay over $100M for Day Care, Soccer, and Fine Arts when you have no Repairs Bludgeon to convince them to approve the final tranche in the Total $320 Million Dollar Package?

Pass or Fail on Tuesday, we have serious problems with the School Board and they will have to be addressed by We, the People.

Disclaimers:
The costs and estimates in the flyer are based on the 2023 OPS Long Range Facilties Plan, and assume none of the repairs or upgrades in the Plan were funded between issuance of the report and 2025. The amounts the Board will actually spend on any projects are likely higher than the Long Range Facilties Plan estimates.

09/05/2025

If you think our "Bond Cycles" projections were smoke and mirrors, consider how much planned debt the Owasso School Board still has left in the queue just until 2033. Who knows how the cost of running the district will "explode" after that.

09/04/2025

Not wanting to oversimplify, but:

Local School Boards are entrusted with two very important things: the education of their neighbors' children, and oversight of their neighbors' money.

Local School Boards must exercise proper stewardship over both.

Is the September 9 $169 Million Bond Referendum an example of "good stewardship"?

Win or Lose, the answer is "No!"

09/03/2025

ENROLLMENT IS NOT DRIVING THE 9/9 BOND REFERENDUM

We are hearing from the community about how we need this $169 Million Bond because the community is growing and we will need the space.

So, what’s the Problem with that Argument?

Nothing in this Bond addresses enrollment. The closest you come is "importing toddlers" by moving to Full Day Pre-K, which forces all of the 5th Graders out of the elementary schools and creates the need for a 5th Grade Center. This is a self-inflicted wound (but only if we pass the bond).

In fact, an analysis of staffing and enrollment since 2010 has revealed some interesting facts
1. Teacher staffing and normalized enrollment have not increased significantly since 2010;
2. Teacher staffing and normalized enrollment have tracked with each other;
3. Support staff hiring has increased geometrically at least since 2020, and really since 2018

This analysis is more or less in line with research conducted last Fall by the OCPA, through which OCPA reported that

a. Oklahoma’s student population grew by five percent during that period but the number of teachers grew by only two percent.
b. School-district administrative staff grew by 23 percent.
c. Hiring for principals grew by 19 percent.

(See: https://ocpathink.org/post/analysis/oklahomas-public-school-staffing-surge-raises-eyebrows)

The cost of adding so much support staff to the Owasso School District does not go into the classrooms. But those geometrically increasing costs DO make it increasingly harder to live within our means...
..and make it more likely we will continue to need to include equipment and repair/maintenance costs in future bonds.

Now consider that the proposed facilities expansion will require even more additional staffing, driving up spending in excess of the $169 Million tab. The concern for the Board and community should be whether or not we have reached the “point of no return”: the point where expenses exceed revenues and repairs and other purchases are “kicked down the road” to the next bond.

Or are we already there?

09/03/2025

169 MiLLION DOLLARS FOR ROOF REPAIRS

We have established that the proposed $169 Million Bond is not about roofs at all, because if it were, the Board could easily have protected the roof repairs by putting it in a separate question which would certainly pass just like the Transportation Question (Q2) passed in February.

The Public Day Care, Soccer, and new Fine Arts Center are too important to the Board so they would rather risk it all by giving us a Take-It-Or-Leave-It ultimatum: Pass the Bond or Lose the Roof Repairs. In other words:

169 MiLLION DOLLARS FOR ROOF REPAIRS

By the Board's own "words" (if you will), that is what this referendum boils down to. The structure of the single question in the 9/9 Referendum is a choice that reveals the School Boards values.

We have a better idea: Afer this Bond is defeated, come back to the voters with a Repair Bond Question. The Board can always have a second question for the facilities expansion.

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08/31/2025

Let's just call the 9/9 Bond Proposal what it is: 169 Million Dollars for Soccer, Fine Arts, and Public Day Care. Supporters of the bond will tell you it's to fix roofs, but if that were true, then either the bond would just be for neglected repairs and neglected equipment purchases, or the repairs/equipment would be in a separate question to protect it at the polls. So this is really all about facilities expansion, thus: "169 Million Dollars for Soccer, Fine Arts, and Public Day Care"

Make no mistake: the School Board is presented with options to repair facilities during the year and when those repairs are not made it reflects the priorities of the Board. Perhaps those neglected repairs are seen as useful bludgeons for the next (inevitable) bond referendum: to force their neighbors into a cruel choice, to either accept whatever facilities expansion is next on the menu, or compound the Board's neglect by voting against the bond.

This will happen until the people put their (collective) foot down and tell the Board to (1) Focus on student outcomes and (2) Stop using their neglect to push us around at the polls.

Until then, voting for everything that comes down the pike is just "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

08/29/2025

Supporters of the September 9 Bond Proposal are using roof repairs as distractions from the real issue, which is the School Board’s insistence that we pay for approximately 120 Million Dollars in facilities expansion as the Price of Repairing Roofs.

Here’s a News Flash: In a properly-run district, maintenance, supplies, equipment and most repairs are paid out of the general operating funds and not put off as part of a debt package.

Supposedly the roofs in question are over 50 years old. Here are a few questions for the Owasso School Board:

• Why have we gone out for bond proposals six times in the past 20 years and only now is there concern for these roofs. In 2022 did we not know the HS roof would need to be replaced?

• We have accrued approximately 179 Million Dollars in net debt since 2012, so why do we have leaky roofs anywhere in the district?

• If the requested roof repairs, which are scheduled to cost about 16 Million Dollars, are so critical, why risk them by lumping them together in a single question? Prudence demands that such critical items be placed in a separate question, which is almost guaranteed to pass.

• Will we continue to see roof repairs in the 2028, 2030, and 2033 bond referendums?

Consider these answers:

• The district has expanded so fast that normal operating revenues are insufficient to cover expenses: repairs, renovations, and equipment can no longer be funded from the general operating budget

• The Board doesn’t really believe the facilities expansion is necessary, so they are willing to use coercive tactics to pass the whole package by forcing voters to vote for everything in order to fix the roofs.

Here’s the Bottom Line: The Board is focusing on Increasing Debt when it should be focusing on Increasing Scores.

08/27/2025