Families brace for extended school closures during walkout Strike ready?
At first, the prospect of a teachers strike sounded like an extension of spring break for 12-year-old Deacon Scott.
That is until his mother broke the news that she’s prepared to offer her own lessons in typing, spelling, reading and other subjects he would be missing at school.
“I can be pretty tough,” said Jenny Scott, Deacon’s mother, who laughed as she listed off the subjects she is prepared to teach.
Scott and her four children — two of whom are in local schools — enjoyed a sunny afternoon last week at Memorial Park as their spring break ended.
“We might be off again in just another week,” Scott said. “But I’m OK with that because a lot of teachers can’t live on what they are paid, so they have to do something. I’m absolutely in support of them striking.”
As thousands of Oklahoma teachers prepare to strike and over 100 schools have confirmed they will shut down if a walkout occurs, parents across the state are bracing for a closure of schools, the length of which is anyone’s guess.
Robyn Hunter, who takes care of her two grandchildren in Edmond, took off work this week for spring break and said she will have to again if schools close next month.
“It would be tough, but we could manage,” Hunter said. “I just hope
it doesn’t last long. I only have so much vacation time.”
The Oklahoma Education Association has circled April 2 as the date for a walkout if state lawmakers do not approve more than $1.4 billion in new annual funding, which includes teacher pay raises and increased school funding.
But beyond lawmakers, families with school-age children will also feel the pressure of a strike, the level of which depends on what options a household has.
“It can be a financial burden for some parents more than others, especially depending on how long the strike goes on,” said Carrie Williams, executive director of Rainbow Fleet, a central Oklahoma organization offering child care referral services. “If you are a parent of a special-needs child, this is a pretty serious situation because you can’t just drop your child off anywhere.”
Williams said her organization has listed child care options on its website to help parents determine a solution during a teaches strike.
“We are getting a lot of calls from parents, and we expect next week it will pick up even more,” Williams said.
While some parents will have to rely on all-day care, others might take advantage of organizations
offering partial-day programs and activities.
Both the Science Museum Oklahoma and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum have announced drop-in activities for children during a strike.
Nonprofits like the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy are compiling a list of resources and activities for children.
“Groups are stepping up, and I expect many more are still talking about what they can do,” said Joe Dorman, CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.
“But I do worry that some kids are going to miss out. In the first couple of days, there is no doubt that some kids are going to miss out because parents are not aware of what resources there are.”
For many students, missing school can mean missing a meal, as more than 60 percent of Oklahoma student are eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school.
Rebecca Kaye, acting superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools, said the district will use buses to act as “rolling feeding sites” each day during a strike.
“The buses will pick up meals that are made by our school nutrition staff, take them to designated locations where kids and families will be able to come and get the meals, then (the buses) will go pick up some more and go to another site,”
she said.
Tulsa Public Schools has also said it is working with community partners to provide free breakfast and lunch at approximately 70 nonschool
sites throughout the city.
Edmond Public Schools is planning to provide transportation to designated school cafeterias for students who rely on school meals. The district
also said it will use volunteers and school staff to continue its weekend backpack food program.
For nearly all, a walkout in April would
require some level of adjustment.
“This is a tough situation,” Scott said. “But somebody has to force these legislators to do something.”