Key Terms & Guiding Principles

  • As OKCPS begins this sensitive and large scale project, it's important to know key terms and what they mean as well as the principles being used to guide us through our work on our Pathway to Greatness.

Guiding Principles

    • We believe our top priority must be serving students equitably, over maintaining under-enrolled facilities.
    • We believe families deserve high-quality educational opportunities in 21st century learning environments.
    • We believe that racially and socioeconomically integrated schools are best for students.
    • We believe that planning in consistent PK-12 feeder patterns and grade bands provides the best experience for students.
    • We believe in keeping neighborhoods together.
    • We believe that every district facility should be used for a positive community purpose.

Key Terms

    • Trade-ups – decisions to redirect resources toward optimal uses that provide additional educational opportunities for students
    • Equity – strategic decision making with the intention of closing learning and opportunity gaps by providing resources according to student need
    • Repurposing – changing the use of a current school building. This might include changing grade bands, housing district services, or leasing/selling facilities for use by an external entity. Some or all students may be zoned to a different school
    • Redistricting – altering the attendance boundaries for a neighborhood school zone. Resident students in redistricted areas will be zoned to a different school
    • Closure – decommissioning a facility completely with no future use plan
    • Grade band – the span of grades that is served within a school building (e.g. PK-5, PK-6, 6-8, 7-12, 9-12)
    • Choice options – education programs that families select other than the zoned school (e.g. transfers, magnet, application, charter)
    • Expansion – offering more seats for an existing program
    • Replication – opening an additional location of an existing program

Board Policy D-12

  • OKCPS Board Policy - D 12 - Facilities Master Planning

    In support of excellence in stewardship of public funds and maximizing the investment of district resources in our instructional programs and services for students, the Board directs the Superintendent to implement a regular process to provide a written evaluation report regarding District facilities based upon the following criteria, no less frequently than every five (5) years beginning in the 2018-19 school year. To the extent possible, final decisions impacting school boundaries should be made by the regular Board meeting in the Spring for the following school year to provide ample time to communicate changes to families.