Oklahoma City Public Schools’ $838.6M budget plan reflects a boost with bond, state funding
An influx of bond money and state funding could give Oklahoma City Public Schools a considerable budget boost next school year.
The district's school board voted Monday to approve an $838.6 million budget plan for 2023-24, heftier than last year's $643.1 million budget. The board will vote again in July to ratify the budget once the 2024 fiscal year has begun.
Oklahoma City Public Schools projects its state and federal funding will grow by more than $100 million, collectively. Meanwhile, the district expects to collect and spend $170 million over the coming school year from its $955 million bond issue that passed in November.
The 2022 bond promises investments in every school, including topdollar construction projects to build four new school buildings. Every project will be finished by August 2026, district leaders say.
Meanwhile, the school district must pay out the rest of its COVID-19 stimulus funding. The deadline is coming in September 2024 to spend the last $57 million from the $256 million the district received in relief funds. Oklahoma City Public Schools received the largest stimulus allocation of any district in the state because of its high concentration of students living in poverty.
In recent years, federal funds buoyed the district's budget as decreasing enrollment caused state appropriations to wane.
Now, enrollment is rebounding, and the Oklahoma Legislature recently added an extra $625 million to public education funding.
These factors together could deliver $26.8 million more in state revenue to Oklahoma City schools, an increase of 17.34%, according to district projections.
Oklahoma City Public Schools expects 35,166 students to enroll in the district for the 2023-24 school year, which would fall about 700 students shy of pre-pandemic levels.
While revenues could increase, employee wages, property, supplies, support services and other costs are likely to grow, as well. The district plans to spend $725.1 million next school year.
The largest share of that spending, 34.4%, will go toward instruction. That includes teacher salaries, which the state Legislature agreed to raise this year.
Oklahoma City schools will use 30% of the district's spending money on support services and 24.3% on facility acquisition and construction services. The rest will cover non-instructional services and pay down debt.
Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.