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The Lawton Constitution
LPS still calculating how many students were lost
BY KIM MCCONNELL
kim.mcconnell@swoknews.com
Lawton Public Schools knows it has
lost about 1,200 students since the 2016
school year, but this year’s exact loss still
is being calculated.
Superintendent Kevin Hime said dis-
trict officials are working to track down
students who were enrolled in Lawton
Public Schools during the 2019-2020
school year but haven’t shown up this
school year, as in-person attendees at
district facilities or virtual students in
Lawton Virtual Academy. That online
academy already was established by
the district for students who wanted or
needed to attend classes online, but what
had been an attendance of 105 surged
to 5,300 students when the 2020-2021
school year began as parents/guard-
ians made plans for life in the time of
COVID-19.
Those virtual attendees still are con-
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
sidered LPS students, each assigned to
a school and virtual teacher, Hime said.
What the district is trying to deter-
mine is the location of students who
were enrolled in Lawton Public Schools
last school year, but aren’t here this
school year.
Hime said the cited-loss of 1,200 stu-
dents is from current enrollment, ver-
sus the enrollment reported for Law-
ton Public Schools in 2016. With today’s
rough estimate of 13,500 students in
the district, that means Lawton has lost
about 1,200 students in five years. Dis-
trict officials said there are a variety of
reasons that number has decreased, in-
cluding being a military community
where families transfer and composi-
tion of the troops assigned to Fort Sill
change, as well as homeschooling and
departures to attend other school dis-
tricts, including virtual ones.
LPS Chief Operating Officer Jason
See LPS, 2A
 The Lawton Constitution
LPS
Continued from Page 1A
Sep James said the district
20 knows it has lost students
to virtual for-profit schools.
Hime said officials aren’t
2020 certain of the exact num-
ber, explaining the district
Page still is compiling its mem-
A002 bership number for the
Oklahoma State Depart-
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resized ment of Education. The tar-
53% get date for that data is Oct.
1, so district personnel are
trying to track down stu-
dents who are not attend-
ing Lawton Public Schools
this semester, but also ha-
ven’t requested their tran-
scripts (needed for transfer
to another school).
“We’re working hard,”
Hime said, of efforts to
identify approximately
300-400 students who are
gone from Lawton Public
Schools without explana-
tion. “We want to find you.”
It’s about more than
state aid numbers, Hime
said, explaining district
personnel want to ensure
the children are safe.
But, attendance is an
important factor for the
district is terms of state and
federal funding, received
for each student to help
fund education efforts.
James said the lost dollar
value of those 1,200 fewer
students in five years is $7.5
million. Hime said that
represents the full value
of state and federal fund-
ing allocated to the dis-
trict based on each child,
which includes state fund-
ing designated for average
daily membership (about
$6,000 per student), but
also includes additional
funding the district would
receive because of special
categories students may
fall into (such as gifted and
talented, or special needs).
Oct. 1 is when the date
when the first set of “mem-
bership” numbers are due
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
from districts, meaning
the count that day is the
determining factor for
state funding. Students
who are and have been
in attendance on Oct. 1
as part of Lawton Public
Schools will bring the dis-
trict credit for a full school
year, in terms of base-level
funding. But, Hime said
students also have as-
signed “weights,” the defi-
nition of special categories
(such as gifted/talented)
that bring additional fund-
ing. The process is part of a
complex funding formula
based on the actual num-
ber of students who attend
a specific school district.
The good news: virtual
students count as LPS stu-
dents, even if they are not
sitting in traditional class-
rooms. At Lawton Public
Schools, virtual students
are assigned to a specific
school and have a specific
“homeroom” teacher, even
secondary students who
typically have multiple
teachers during a normal
school day. That’s why
the district created vir-
tual teaching pods, three
designated areas across
the district where teach-
ers educating students
virtually are grouped to-
gether based on age level
(elementary, middle and
high school). There also is
a “night academy,” teach-
ers who work from with
students between 3 p.m.
and 9 p.m.
Hime said administra-
tors know some Lawton
parents have placed their
children in for-profit vir-
tual schools, such as Epic
Charter Schools. Epic, op-
erating as a charter school
before the pandemic, has
become the largest school
district in the state, based
on the recent increase in
enrollment.
Hime said he and his
administrators believe
they can lure some virtual
students back to Lawton
Virtual Academy, on-line
classes the district already
had in place for second-
ary students, but dramat-
ically expanded this school
year to accommodate all
grade levels. The district
has about 3,500 students
enrolled in its virtual
academy, but those num-
bers continue to fluctuate
as more parents become
comfortable with mov-
ing their children back to
in-person classrooms, or
in-person students move
to a virtual setting.
“We’re pretty open,” he
said, of the flexibility given
to parents.
The fluctuation wasn’t
unexpected: Hime has said
his key word this school
year is “flexibility.” And,
because the district knew
parents would want the
option of moving chil-
dren from one teaching
method to another, teach-
ers are working hard to
create a seamless curric-
ulum that keeps students
at every grade level at the
same learning level. That
means students can move
from one learning option
to another without losing
any class days.
Hime said the virtual
academy has been so suc-
cessful, it won’t end when
the COVID-19 pandemic
does.
“We’ll keep going,”
he said, adding that he
doesn’t expect the virtual
component to be as big as
it is now because the dis-
trict already is seeing fluc-
tuations.
And, he said the district
doesn’t want to put parents
“in a choke hold,” as far as
forcing them to select only
one education option.
“There are different fac-
tors,” he said, noting, for
example, the approach of
cold and flu season.
 Enid News & Eagle

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TUESDAY

Sep
22
‘Really
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decisions’
CFO: EPS could
run into issues
with spending
By Alexander Ewald
Staff Writer
Enid Public Schools could see a funding
dilemma if it continues to operate at a similar
deficit next year due to both declining enroll-
ment and COVID-19-related expenses, its
CFO said Monday.
If enrollment figures continue to decline
by January, district funding could be reduced
by $50 to $70 a student, based on statewide
enrollment predictions — coming to possi-
bly more than $1 million in funding losses,
district CFO Sam Robinson said during EPS’
Board of Education meeting.
Though expenditures are “pretty nor-
mal” aside from COVID-19-related disinfec-
tants, Robinson speculated EPS is on track
to spend $300,000 to $700,000 more this
year. Therefore, the district could be deficit
spending with a possible $1.7 million drop,
with a mid-term allocation drop and addition-
al COVID-19 expenses, he said.
Though EPS has a “really good” general
fund balance, he said, the district wouldn’t
be able to afford another $1.7 million defi-
cit-spending in 2022’s fiscal year and will
have to make some “really tough decisions”
next spring.
“Again, this is all speculation, that is not
definitive. It’s really just to give you guys
information on where we’re sitting today,”
Robinson told board members during his
regular report. “What I’m telling you is we
cannot continue to deficit spend another $1.7
million into FY 22. It’s really a one-time,

See EPS, Page A3

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 Enid News & Eagle
Sep
22
g ,
2020 and have had different experiences. We
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EPS
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resized
49% ‘spend it now’ (thing) …”
Oklahoma saw high-
er-than-average revenue
streams through the summer
because many delayed filing
income tax returns until July,
which Robinson said might
not be the same come April.
“Who knows when the
next big storm is going to be
coming at us?” Robinson said.
EPS reported 322 fewer
students enrolled, at 7,442
total, since last year’s 7,774
students on Monday. The
district’s tracing case totals
reports 7,514 enrolled as of
Sept. 1.
Parent Sara Reed told
the board she’s heard from
parents and students unhap-
py with the district’s virtu-
al learning option and were
opting to move to a different
virtual school district entirely
such as Epic Charter Schools.
“There is lack of com-
munication, trouble load-
ing external apps and other
issues. They are choosing to
switch to Epic; therefore, EPS
will continue to lose more
funding,” she said, adding
that EPS’ quarantining entire
classes was doing more harm
than good. “You are harming
our children’s future by treat-
ing school like an option.”
Superintendent Darrell
Floyd said Monday he was
not intending to propose any
changes to the district’s re-en-
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
crane still is needed to complete the stat-
try/COVID-19 plan or no lon-
ger mandate masks.
He and board member
Amanda Phillips both said the
item would be on the agenda
in the foreseeable future to
be able to discuss changes at
each month’s board meeting.
“Things have been trend-
ing in a good way, but if
things change, we have the
opportunity as board members
to make a change to tighten
things up,” Office 7’s Phillips
said, referring to COVID-19-
related quarantines and posi-
tive-case isolations within the
district, which has reported
fewer in effect in the last sev-
eral weeks online.
While 15 classes of 317
elementary students remain in
quarantine as of Monday —
including all 14 from Adams
Elementary School — seven
positive student cases remain
in isolation districtwide, along
with three staff members.
The rest of the district
reports just more than 200 stu-
dents remain in quarantine; at
its highest, on Aug. 26, under
600 were.
Christina Fernandez, a
paraprofessional for EPS stu-
dents with special needs, as
well as a mother to an EHS
student, urged the board to not
make any changes Monday.
“Doing away with masks
is not in the best interest of the
special needs population and
73701.
the staff working with those
students,” Fernandez told the
board.
Brenda Friesen, a third-
grade teacher, however,
encouraged the board to do
the opposite and drop the
mandate, or at least to lessen
the restrictions made in class-
rooms.
“I know you as a board
have made decision to try to
keep students and staff from
trying to get the virus by
requiring us to wear masks
in the school,” said Friesen,
who teaches at Prairie View
Elementary School. “But
please consider the vast
majority of students who are
not able to make the growth in
the area of learning language,
of reading, of speaking.”
EPS’ re-entry plan already
allows — once Garfield
County reaches yellow, “low-
risk” level — for pre-K to
third-grade students to remove
their masks while in the class-
room at the teacher’s discre-
tion. EPS will reach yellow
once the county reports less
than 14.39 new daily cases
per 100,000 population.
Robinson also reported
, ,
that all EPS students, both
virtual and in-person, can
receive free breakfast and
lunch through December.
The district still needs free
and reduced lunch applica-
tions turned in because those
counts directly affect other
programs for federal fund-
ing, Assistant Superintendent
for Elementary Education
Randall Rader said.
Floyd said a state depart-
ment child nutrition supervi-
sor told him on a Zoom call
last week that those at the fed-
eral level are not expecting an
extension past that date.
District officials also
showed board members
new renderings of the now-
named Advance Foods Soccer
Complex, currently being
built at Garland and Rupe.
The complex will include
multiple fields and will cost
$10 million total, through
both public city funding and
private donations.
City stormwater and trans-
portation work budgeted this
year for $1 million is currently
underway at the complex. The
complex’s estimated comple-
tion time is next spring.
 Eastern Times Register

Sep
23

2020

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Roland School
enrollment down;
84%
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0005

Dome set to be AM
ED

installed be
re
AMIE REMER Martin said during the wh
Administrator’s Report co
EDITOR
The Roland Board of that the District has not re
Education met on Sept. experienced significant ho
14 where the superinten- problems related to CO- ot
dent announced that en- VID-19 since classes re-

A
rollment numbers were sumed on Aug. 24 and
down and the Dome was that students and staff
expected to be installed have done an outstanding
on the new Civic Center job following protocol.
by this week. Martin said total en-
Roland Public Schools rollment is down about
Superintendent Randy See SCHOOL, page 5

B d Gift d

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 Clip
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Eastern Times Register
area news
SCHOOL
from page 1
85 students with the ma-
jority attending EPIC
Charter School, and that
some elementary students
were now attending Lib-
erty and Moffett Schools.
He also said the school
will continue to use the
ACT test as its assess-
ment for college and ca-
reer readiness.
Martin announced the
crew that will install the
Dome on the new activity
center is scheduled to be-
gin on Sept. 28, and board
members were able to in-
spect the new activity bus
following the meeting.
Items Approved
Jerry Brooks, clerk,
g g
made a motion to accept a
sealed bus bid for bus #26
in the amount of $1,000
from Quinton Bark, and
to approve a letter of resig-
nation from Ronald Ow-
ens with all other board
voters voting yes.
The board also agreed
to hire Brandon Hinsley
as a custodian and ap-
prove the transportation
pay rate policy for regular
drivers, effective Sept. 14.
Board member Ronnie
Hemphill made a motion
to approve a five cent in-
crease for adult breakfasts
and lunches for teachers
and staff. Breakfast will in-
crease from $1.84 to $1.89
and lunches from $3.84 to
$3.95, with all other board
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
members voting yes.
Brunk made a motion
to approve Dennis Magee
as the new ISS Monitor for
the school year that was fol-
lowed by a second motion
from board president Kevin
Flurry. Flurry next made a
motion to accept the Certif-
icate of Authority for 2020-
2021, which was presented
to the school board.
Other items approved
at the meeting included:
Former minutes, the In-
ternal Activities Com-
mittee for the 2020-2021
school year, signatures
for Activity Funds, the
account name change
School Activity Fund Ac-
counts, and to approve the
fundraisers for the year.
The monthly Activi-
ties Fund Report, War-
rants and Treasurer’s Re-
port were also approved
for the following: Bond
Fund #33, Building Fund
#21, Co-Op Fund #12.
General Fund #11, War-
rant #7-9 for $7,872.82,
Warrant #27-40 for
$3,749.12, Warrant #1-8
for $1,037.92 and Warrant
#227-440 for $650,432.23.
The board voted to ta-
ble the agreement for use
of School Facility/Junior
High Cafeteria for Brenda
Green for Dec. 12, 2020.
The Roland Board of Ed-
ucation meets the second
Monday of every month at
6 p.m. in the Administra-
tion Building Board Room.
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Sequoyah County Times

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.