Hispanic students now outnumber other races and ethnicities in Tulsa Public Schools.
The demographics of the area's large, inner-city school district has shifted dramatically, even as enrollment remains level at about 40,000 students. Off-setting dwindling numbers of white and black students has been a steady climb in the number of Hispanic students whose numbers have doubled just since 2007 to a total enrollment of 11,694.
Hispanic students now fill nearly 30 percent of the school district's seats and hold the majority at 16 of its roughly 75 sites. For the first time ever, a Tulsa high school East Central is in that category.
All the while, the percentage of black and white students enrolled has decreased to 26.7 percent and 27.83 percent, respectively.
TPS leaders say the continual shift is compounding long-standing challenges to find teachers who are adequately prepared to support learning.
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"Our needs are outpacing our resources and our level of preparation. We are trying to adapt and increase support," said Laura Grisso, a TPS administrator in charge of federal Title III programming for immigrant students and those who have limited proficiency in English.
Ten school sites in TPS were at or near majority Hispanic enrollment just two years ago, but that number has grown to 16. The school with the highest ratio of Hispanic students in the city is unchanged nearly 69 percent of students at Springdale Elementary, 2510 E. Pine St., are of that ethnicity.
Not all Hispanic students are English Language Learners, or ELL, but a good majority are. Throughout TPS, nearly 18 percent of students are native speakers of one of 77 foreign languages and are still learning English, but the first language for most of those children is Spanish.
"We need expanded training and material resources for all school staff to ensure they can support learning, particularly in the area of language support," Grisso said.
With TPS now serving a majority Hispanic student population, Grisso said the district is grappling with deficits in these three, critical areas:
- Teacher preparation programs: "When I was in teacher prep, everyone had to take a special education class whether you were interested in specializing in that area or not so you could support those students," Grisso said. "The ELL population has grown to the point that it should be a requirement, as well. Whether you are teaching high school biology or third grade or kindergarten, you need to know how to support bilingual students or ELL kids in the classroom."
- Recruitment and hiring: "Students need to see teachers they can relate to. We are working hard to recruit more Hispanic, Latino and bilingual teachers," Grisso said.
- Parent outreach: TPS now offers extensive translation services for Spanish speakers, as well as speakers of the other 75 or so foreign languages spoken in the district.
"Our schools are making a concerted effort when they send out notices to send them not only in English but also Spanish because we recognize how critical it is to engage parents in schools and their children's education," Grisso said. "But now that parents know we provide these services, it's a challenge in Tulsa to find enough people with that much language competency in Spanish. We are working on building up those resources."
In spite of the many challenges to adapt, Grisso said, an increasing focus on supporting schools and students and parents by community-based organizations, churches, the Center for Family Resilience at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa and the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic Affairs Commission is encouraging. "That conversation has really been picking up over the last year and it's really exciting," she said. "The interest and the support is critical to our success."
Andrea Eger 918-581-8470
Look at school-by-school demographic data for Tulsa Public Schools at bit.ly/tpsenrollment
