After the major event last summer that began with an elementary principal citing racism among the reasons for his resignation, and culminated in the removal of then-Superintendent Kevin Burr, you’d be forgiven for believing the parents and teachers of Sapulpa Public Schools might be a bit on edge.
As the school board and staff tried to put the pieces back together and continue with our children’s education, issues keep arising, such as budget cuts and the long-term absence of full-time teachers in one category or another.
The latest bit of news seems to suggest that there’s a mass exodus of administrators happening at Sapulpa Public Schools. No less than 6 positions in administration came up for availability on the school’s job board, and nearly all of them were only recently filled, it seemed.
Parents got in touch on our Facebook Page, asking what was going on and wondering if it was additional fallout stemming from the events of last summer.
Thankfully, conversations with both teachers and board members are helping to put the fears to rest. These positions were filled while the district was under the care of Interim-Superintendent Armstrong. As such, each of these positions were also filled out with an “interim” label attached, supposedly in case the Sapulpa BOE needed to pivot in another direction at the end of the regular school year.
While these positions are required by law to be publicly posted to a job forum, it appears to be more of a formality, and that all the administrators currently in these positions will remain so—if they want to keep the job. The only possibly obstacle to that would be formal evaluations, which are due next month.
Roger Johnson, currently the Principal at Bartlett Academy, says he has no intention of leaving his position, which is one of openings listed. “I don’t plan on going anywhere else,” he said.
Johnson believes the whole process is really just a way to drop the “interim” from these titles and allow the administrators to operate without the stigma of a probationary period that the label carries.
Melinda Ryan, on the Sapulpa Board of Education, explained that the time constraints required that they “filled critical roles with highly qualified persons in interim positions.”
While the news may come as a surprise to parents, all of the administrators were aware of these stipulations. “We were very open about our planned procedure,” Ryan said.
She also commended current Superintendent Armstrong—who is also no longer “interim”—for his assistance and support. “Mr. Armstrong has done a good job of following our custom and policy and we appreciate everyone’s support moving forward,” Ryan said.
