What’s happening, Oklahoma? You might be reading this to the sound of storms Tuesday morning. Here’s your ‘Opening Act’…

1. Take that umbrella or raincoat to work today. ☔
2. Real estate alert: ICE looking for office space in Oklahoma City.
3. Did you know? Fine arts credits no longer required for high school degree.
4. Today is ‘Education Technology Day,’ ‘National Dogs In Politics Day’ and my favorite, ‘National Great American Pot Pie Day.’
5. Disney announces that Jimmy Kimmel is returning Tuesday night to ABC, but Sinclair stations are holding out. In Oklahoma, that means KOCO and KSWO will show it, but KTUL will not.
6. Oklahoma state high school football rankings (every class).
7. All-time highs (again!) for the stock markets.

Be sure to follow ‘Oklahoma Memo’ on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. There is also a YouTube channel — and it’s all growing day by day.

You can message me anytime at [email protected].

Weather Update 🌩️

Stormy morning likely. Could be a wet couple of days.

🌡️ Tuesday's high in OKC 86°
🌡️ Tuesday’s high in Tulsa 84°

ICE looks to expand office space in Oklahoma City

By Lionel Ramos, KOSU
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is looking to expand its office locations across the country, according to The Washington Post. Oklahoma City is a target.

The need for more office space is in line with ICE’s mission to expand its immigration enforcement operations. Oklahoma City and 18 other cities, mostly in the South and Midwest, are on the list of target locations.

The Post reports officials with the General Services Administration, or GSA, the agency tasked with handling federal real estate, were recently approached by high-level staffers with ICE and asked to procure 300 new offices nationwide.

They are meant for around 10,000 new officers and lawyers to boost removal proceedings, per The Washington Post. The newspaper maintains the anonymity of six federal officials it interviewed for its report.

But online GSA records show an active bid for lease proposals requesting “as-is, fully-finished and furnished office space in support of administrative operations for law enforcement” in the following locations:

• Birmingham, Alabama

• Boise, Idaho

• Charleston, South Carolina

• Columbus, Ohio

• Des Moines, Iowa

• Fort Lauderdale, Florida

• Fort Myers, Florida

• Jacksonville, Florida

• Tampa, Florida

• Grand Rapids, Michigan

• Louisville, Kentucky

• Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Raleigh, North Carolina

• Richmond, Virginia

• Spokane, Washington

• St. Louis, Missouri

According to the GSA bid request, ICE is looking for a 10-year lease on a space with 11,500 to 18,500 square feet. It requires around 80% private office space, with the rest devoted to cubicles. And it calls for a dedicated server room and for some rooms to have soundproofing capacity for confidential discussions.

In addition to standard office needs, such as conference and storage rooms, there are also level 2 facility security requirements. They lay out the protocol for when the building should be locked, how it should be marked outside to show it's government-operated, and what the landscaping should look like.

ICE’s expansion follows the tripling of the agency’s budget and a $45 billion pledge for new immigrant detention centers by Congress this summer.

Oklahoma does away with fine arts requirements to earn a high school diploma 

By Peggy Dodd, The Frontier
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Editor’s note: This story was produced in partnership with ArtDesk, published by the Kirkpatrick Foundation. The Kirkpatrick Foundation is also a donor to The Frontier.

In his small rural town near the Texas border, Oklahoma art teacher Glenn Howard is trying to rebuild. The high school in Waurika, population 1,800, has only intermittently offered art classes over the years, facing a lack of supplies and funding. 

Starting with eighth-graders this year, Oklahoma won’t require fine arts credits to earn a high school diploma. Under the new requirements set by the Oklahoma Legislature in 2024, fine arts credits can fulfill some graduation requirements, but they are optional. 

The decision to offer fine arts curriculum will now be left up to school districts across the state. Advocates worry about the future of drama, art and music opportunities in public schools. Rural districts with already limited resources could see cuts. 

“I do have a lot of fears about if we see these classes are no longer a requirement, then we’ll probably see fewer students enroll, ” said Jennifer Allen-Barron, arts education director for the Oklahoma Arts Council. 

If enrollment gets too low, schools could cut classes, narrowing opportunities for kids who love the arts, she said. 

There is some evidence that arts education can help improve student performance. When Wilson Arts Integration Elementary School, an urban school in Oklahoma City, began incorporating the arts into every subject in the mid-1990s, test scores shot up, said Anita Arnold, executive director of the Black Integrated Arts Center, which helped introduce the program at the school. The program is still going today, part of a national partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. 

Teachers use music and drama to help kids better retain math and science lessons, Arnold said. 

“You’ve got all of these other tools that the teachers are given to engage the students and tap into their full potential,” she said. 

According to state data, Wilson Elementary consistently outperforms the majority of public schools in Oklahoma. In 2024, Wilson’s test scores were 72% higher than the state average.

Utah high schoolers must earn 1.5 credits in the arts to earn a diploma, some of the most robust requirements in the nation. 

Click here to finish the story

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The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• ‘No other option’: After psychiatrist ignores court order, admitted killer of Sgt. Bobby Swartz in legal limbo (NonDoc)

• Chickasaw, Choctaw Nations wage legal fights against social media companies for roles in mental health crisis (KOSU)

• Man dead after officer-involved shooting in Miami (Tulsa World)

• New video shows former Mustang police officer assaulting man in custody (KOCO)

• Facing shortage of prosecutors, Oklahoma DAs weigh new recruitment tools (Oklahoma Voice)

• Tulsa city, county in $18M disagreement over homeless shelter donation (2 News Oklahoma)

• Four Tulsa-area school districts notified of complaints about Charlie Kirk comments (Tulsa World)

• Norman Ward 3 council member issues apology for encouraging suicide acts in Facebook disagreement (OU Daily)

• Full court press: How OSSAA’s latest legal loss extends basketball controversy (Oklahoma Watch)

• 'Just the beginning': Family, children advocates rally for cameras in OK courts (2 News Oklahoma)

• Work to remove saltwater contamination from Oklahoma creek continues amid environmental concerns (KOCO)

• Piedmont gets $2 million for right-sizing its water infrastructure (KOSU)

• Judge dismisses Osage Nation’s lawsuit against Interior Department (Osage News)

• OU discussed 'trick' play with officials before controversial touchdown on Auburn, source tells Toby Rowland (News On 6)

• OSU Football's Mike Gundy intends to keep coaching team beyond 2025 season (Fox 23)

• Turning Point USA to visit OU as part of college tour (OU Daily)

Oklahoma Memo’s Mission

The ‘Oklahoma Memo’ mission is simple: Reignite the daily news habit by connecting Oklahomans and those who love Oklahoma to quality sources of news and vetted information.

✅ Save you time.
✅ Make you smarter.
✅ Protect Democracy.