First Day Of Classes At Jenks Public Schools

Students at Jenks Public Schools return to class Friday morning, but several new construction projects will cause some changes for drivers.

A school spokesperson says start times are the same as last year for all of the district's schools, but because of that construction, traffic flow at several campuses will be different and in some cases, even better.

Jenks East and West Elementary Schools have both redesigned the parking lots to help with traffic flow.

Because of ongoing construction at Jenks High School, the district says students and teachers need to watch for parking lot changes
Jenks Superintendent Dr. Stacey Butterfield will be visiting several of the district's schools Friday morning with his first stop at Jenks Middle School.  

Like many Oklahoma school districts, the state's budget shortfall has impacted Jenks, causing them to eliminate teaching positions as well as other staff positions.  

To offset budget cuts, the district launched The Trojan 20 Program, challenging parents to donate $20 for every student they have enrolled in the district.

Dr. Butterfield says that money was intended for school site budgets, including items like supplies.

The district says the $200,000 was raised with the help of TTCU and about 1,700 private donations.

Jenks grew their enrollment numbers again this year, the district now serves over 12,000 students.