Gundy offers support
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy directly inserted himself into the state’s school funding issue three weeks ago when he appeared at a board meeting of the Stillwater Public Schools, offering his own money to improve school security in the district.
On Wednesday afternoon, before Gundy’s team took the field at the Sherman Smith Training Center for its fifth spring practice, the coach delved into the process in more detail, while also offering his support for the teachers currently staging a walkout and protesting at the state Capitol to urge legislators to provide better funding for education.
After answering questions about his football team for about 10 minutes, Gundy was asked for his thoughts on the walkout, responding that he is “100 percent behind our educators.”
“I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of the details involved,” Gundy said. “I do a lot of reading to try to stay involved since I’m now deeply invested the situation, not necessarily the teacher walkout, but I have always felt that the educators in this state are way overworked and way underpaid, and anytime that we have people that are directly tied in with our children for 6-8 hours a day, we should try to facilitate them, give them the facilities and do everything we can to make sure that they can do their job the best way possible.”
Gundy has two sons at Stillwater Public Schools, which have been closed all week because of the walkout and will remain closed Thursday and Friday. “The future relies on us to all do our part, so I’m 100 percent behind them,” Gundy said. “I think that they should do whatever they think is necessary in order for them to get what’s necessary to be successful, so our children can benefit in the future.”
Gundy has been pleased with the progress he’s seen to improve security at Stillwater schools in the three weeks since his appearance at the board meeting.
“I have spent more time, more hours, on security of Stillwater schools than I have Oklahoma State football the last three weeks,” Gundy said. “I got in deep, and I am thrilled with the meetings that we’ve had with the superintendent, Marc Moore, school board members, Stillwater police and their willingness to work with Payne County Sheriff’s Department.
“For all of us to come together, it makes me proud to be a citizen in the community of Stillwater.”
Gundy joked that it has been his first experience with what it’s like to be in a political office, “sitting in those meetings and hearing both sides talk and me not being able to make the final decision ’cause I’m not the boss.”
A formal announcement of the school district’s updated security strategy is expected in the coming days, Gundy said.
“There are people that feel we need to make an announcement on what our stand is and what our decisions will be based on the collective thoughts of those groups of people, so the community and Stillwater will know this is what we’re going to do moving forward,” Gundy said.
“This is just a shortterm fix so we can get groundwork laid for next August for now and forever.”