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Oklahoma City Public Schools Passes $180M Bond Issue For Operations, Infrastructure

Capitol Hill Elementary School in south Oklahoma City.
Kate Carlton Greer
/
KGOU
Capitol Hill Elementary School in south Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City Public Schools superintendent Aurora Lora thanked voters yesterday for approving a $180 million bond issue.

"You know, it's been really wonderful. My phone was dinging all night with people just reaching out saying they're so happy for the school district,” Lora said during a news conference. “And for the teachers and students, just so that we're going to be able to address the issues that we've got, and really get focused on academics now.”

Much of the money will be used for air conditioning units, new plumbing, and other repairs to the district’s aging infrastructure. About $54 million will be spent on technology including iPads and new computers. Another $19 million will go to new buses.

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“This will help us take those buses that honestly, at this point, just need to be replaced and allow us to get some brand-new buses,” Lora said. “So I think it's going to be huge for the teachers, because those things are really frustrating, both for teachers and principals and students, and we want them to be focused just on teaching and learning and not having to worry about operations issues."

The new bond will not raise taxes. By passing it voters chose to extend a bond that was set to expire.

In graduate school at the University of Montana, Emily Wendler focused on Environmental Science and Natural Resource reporting with an emphasis on agriculture. About halfway through her Master’s program a professor introduced her to radio and she fell in love. She has since reported for KBGA, the University of Montana’s college radio station and Montana’s PBS Newsbrief. She was a finalist in a national in-depth radio reporting competition for an investigatory piece she produced on campus rape. She also produced in-depth reports on wind energy and local food for Montana Public Radio. She is very excited to be working in Oklahoma City, and you can hear her work on all things from education to agriculture right here on KOSU.
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