Editor's note: One word in a quote from Amy Shelton has been corrected in this version of this story.
Voters elected Amy Shelton to the Tulsa school board District 2 seat on Tuesday, while a close race in District 3 left incumbent Lana Turner-Addison and challenger Jennettie Marshall bound for a runoff election.
Neither Turner-Addison nor Marshall received more than half the votes in a three-way race, so another election to determine who will fill the seat is set for April 4.
Shelton took 57 percent of the vote in District 2, beating opponent Phil Armstrong for the seat occupied for six years by Wilbert Collins, whose name remained on the ballot even though he had withdrawn from the race due to health concerns.
Shelton had 335 total votes, followed by Armstrong with 181 and Collins with 71.
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Shelton said “there’s a lot of work to do to build unity” in the district and ensure that all communities are represented, but she said she’s feeling “truly hopeful.”
“The sense that I have in Tulsa is people want to come together to make this a city where all kids have access to a high-quality education,” she said.
She added that it was a “great pleasure” to run alongside Armstrong.
“We were able to demonstrate that politics doesn’t have to be divisive,” Shelton said. “We were able to speak positively of one another and affirm what one another brought to the campaign.”
Schools in District 2 are Burroughs, Kendall-Whittier, McKinley, Mitchell, Owen, Sequoyah and Springdale elementary schools; Carver Middle School; Will Rogers College High and Junior High; and Booker T. Washington High School.
In District 3, Turner-Addison took 49.13 percent of the votes and was followed by Marshall, with 43.88 percent, and Whitney Cole with 7 percent. Turner-Addison had 337 votes; Marshall had 301; and Cole had 48.
Turner-Addison was elected to the post in 2005 and is at the end of her term as board president.
“I’m extremely optimistic, and I’m proud of my community for coming out and exercising their right to vote,” Turner-Addison said after learning the results.
She said she wants Tulsans to know that she is “truly committed and dedicated to the students, the teachers, the families and the community of north Tulsa and all of Tulsa.”
Marshall said she is feeling excited and hopeful heading into the runoff.
“I am determined to continue my response to the call of the people of the community, which is to pursue this position,” Marshall said.
Schools in District 3 are ECDC Bunche; Academy Central, Anderson, Celia Clinton, Gilcrease, Hamilton, Hawthorne, Jackson, Penn and Whitman elementary schools; Dual Language Program; Central Junior High, Monroe Demonstration School; McLain Junior High/7th Grade Academy; and Central and McLain high schools.
School bond elections
Tulsa County voters also approved more than $56 million worth of school bond issues at Union, Jenks and Skiatook public schools Tuesday.
Union Public Schools led with a $26 million bond package, which was approved by about 80 percent of voters.
A “supermajority” of at least 60 percent of voters is required by state law for approval of school bonds.
The largest portion − $11 million − of Union’s package will fund the next phase of construction at the district’s new elementary school, which will be located at 12000 E. 31st St. and will be the district’s 14th elementary school. The bond issue will not raise taxes.
The construction will essentially complete one half of the building, allowing the district to move Briarglen Elementary’s approximately 500 students, in kindergarten through fifth grade, into the new school beginning next year.
The district’s plan for the building is to eventually serve 1,000 students — about the capacity of two elementary schools — to address growth in the north-central part of the district and free up space in other elementary schools.
The bond package also includes money for technology-based needs in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — classes; to help implement a plan to overhaul the high school’s aging stadium; and other building projects.
Both propositions in Jenks Public Schools’ $10,420,000 bond issue passed with about 80 percent of the votes.
It includes money for middle school athletic fields and secondary classrooms, as well as districtwide facilities maintenance, technology, transportation, textbooks, media equipment and safety improvements. The bond issue will not raise taxes.
Both propositions in Skiatook Public Schools’ $19,875,000 bond issue passed with about 82 percent of the vote.
It includes money to complete the second phase of construction at Skiatook Elementary School; to fund a 1:1 technology initiative for students in grades nine through 12; and to construct a new agriculture classroom, as well as a shop and multisport field house.
