Redistricting Jenks Elementary Schools, 2 News brings concerns to the district

JENKS, Okla. – The Jenks Board of Education has approved plans to reallocate elementary schools that will require some students to switch schools starting in 2025-2026.

2 News listened to parents share their concerns and questions and answer them with the district.

These are the maps showing the new boundaries of the district.

Many parents were shocked when they received a text message from the district announcing this change on the evening of November 11.

“My heart just dropped a little bit like I said I’ve been in Jenks all my life and I’ve never seen this happen,” said Kelsey Graham, born and raised in Jenks.

Her son is in the first grade. Their house falls within a new boundary line.

She said her son was excited to stay at his school in the multi-age classroom program. There the students go to the next grade in the same class.

Now that option may not be available.

“The fact that he would have that consistency, he was very, very excited about it. So to convey that to him, I tried not to, but I did tell him. And he was a little sad about it, but I told him everything will be fine, but that’s my biggest concern. I might even fight for him to stay in there if they want us to move,” Graham said.

2 The News recently reported on another district going through a similar process. Broken Arrow’s high schools were approved to be redistricted. However, the district made it clear that no student will be granted an exception or transferred to the school they initially attended.

According to the district, Jenks can be flexible under certain circumstances, but most students will be affected by the change.

After announcing the new limits, parents quickly took to social media to share their concerns.

Numerous parents contacted 2 News, including Graham.

“So that’s really my biggest concern, the whole logistics of how this is going to happen,” Graham said.

After hearing parents’ concerns and questions, we went to the district to see if it could provide more answers.

One major issue raised by parents: Three of the four schools will have new boundaries, with Jenks Southeast being the only one that remains unchanged.

2 News asked why.
“When we first started discussing this topic, I told you that we rely on information from demographers,” said Jeffery Beyer, Chief Operations Officer at Jenks. “Southeast is in a position where we don’t need to create capacity at Southeast and we don’t need to create capacity at East Elementary.”

He said growth on the west side of the district is creating capacity issues, which are unevenly impacting schools west of the Arkansas River.

He said they had limited options.

“When schools reach capacity, districts essentially have two options: they can build new classrooms or they can redistribute students to locations where there may be available classrooms,” Beyer said.

While the changes are approved, parents will have the opportunity to express their concerns to the district.

A community meeting will be held on November 19 to hopefully answer any remaining questions parents may have.

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