Analysis: Seventeen Tulsa Public Schools. That’s how many schools the Tulsa Public Schools Board voted to close Monday night. Nearly one-quarter of the district’s schools. One out of every four. That’s not a minor administrative adjustment. That’s an institutional earthquake.
I spoke at Monday night’s Board meeting and asked a question that every Tulsa taxpayer, parent, and homeowner ought to be asking: How did this district get into such a colossal mess?
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Friday the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans for eligible private nonprofit organizations in Oklahoma impacted by the severe storm and straight-line winds occurring July 4. The eligible Counties include; Cleveland, Nowata, Osage, and Washington.
Analysis: School-based healthcare is no longer limited to services traditionally connected to special education. Oklahoma already permits certain health-related and rehabilitative services through schools, while federal policy is encouraging states to expand school-based Medicaid and behavioral-health services. At the same time, school-based health centers can introduce a broader healthcare-delivery operation into a public school.
The question is not whether children need healthcare. They do. The question is whether public schools should become a larger part of healthcare delivery systems, and if so, where the boundaries should be drawn.
Circle Cinema has announced it will host the Oklahoma premiere of “Route 66: The Main Street of America” on Friday, Sept. 18, with director John Paget and Route 66 historian Michael Wallis attending as special guests.
The evening begins with a reception in the Circle Cinema lobby at 6 p.m., followed by the film at 7 p.m. and a Q&A with Paget and Wallis. Tickets are on sale now and include the reception, screening and Q&A. Admission is $50 for Circle Cinema members and $66 for non-members, available at circlecinema.org.
Blood donations have fallen to a four-year summer low, worsening this season’s emergency blood shortage. All blood types are needed, but the situation is especially dire for type O blood as the Red Cross is now limiting distributions of these blood products to hospitals. The supply of type O positive blood has now dropped below a one-day supply.
