OKCPS Announces Staffing & Security Goals Ahead Of 2022 School Year

As the summer draws to a close for Oklahoma City Public School kids, the district is laying out its plans for the school year. 

In 16 days, nearly 32,000 students are expected to fill the halls of 62 district schools. 

The first priority of district leadership is making sure there are people in place to teach them. 

“We always have a goal that we’re 100 percent staffed as we start the school year,” says Superintendent Dr, Sean McDaniel. 

In his 4 years as superintendent, that hasn’t always been easy. The numbers range from 82 percent to 93 percent. 

So far this year, the district is at 95 percent staffing for classroom teaching positions. 

In a school district the size of OKCPS, that 5 percent is still a large number. Right now, there are 133 open teaching positions, averaging out to 1 to 2 teachers per building. 

“We have a school or two that has double digit vacancies on average,” says McDaniel. “That is more concerning to us.” 

On Tuesday, the district looked to fill those positions with 3 school specific hiring events. Administrators hope to find qualified, certified teachers by August 11. 

“We believe that is where the magic happens,” says McDaniel. “We believe that is the most important relationship that exists in the school business.” 

Relationship was also the word of choice for the new director of security, Wayland Cubit. He believes that is the first step in stopping an incident before it happens. 

“There is no such thing as correction without connection first,” he says. 

The retired Oklahoma City Police Lieutenant took on the new role this summer. 

He says students won’t see new security measures this fall, but in addition to the access control system, security cameras and metal detectors wants to foster connections. 

“We have to seek a relationship. We have to be a positive, caring adult and not assume that someone else is the positive caring adult in the other kid’s life,” he explains. “If they are connected to some positive caring adult in that building, they will inform us if they feel like they are unsafe, or something might happen.” 

Safe, prepared and confident are top priorities for the expected 32,000 kids in just 16 days.