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Thursday, October 22, 2026 • Warming up. 78-81. ☀️
Poll results:
We received 299 votes on the Wednesday poll, “Should Oklahoma communities be allowed to temporarily block new data centers?”
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, communities need time to study the impact. (256)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ No, we shouldn't discourage economic development. (17)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Only if there are concerns about water or electricity. (21)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Not sure. (5)
New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)
‘We aren’t done yet’: Tulsa families, teachers respond to closure of 17 campuses
Gwendolyn Drumm, acting principal of Thoreau Demonstration Academy, takes a quiet moment at the Tulsa Public Schools board meeting Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. The board voted 6-1 to approve a plan to close or consolidate 17 campuses, including Thoreau. (Credit: Milo Gladstein / Tulsa Flyer)
By Anna Colletto, Tulsa Flyer
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On this, most Tulsans agree — the decision to close 17 Tulsa Public Schools campuses wasn’t an easy one.
In the face of a shrinking student population and a persistent financial deficit, the board voted Monday to close more than a fifth of its campuses next year. The closures are expected to save $11.1 million alone, in addition to further cuts to the TPS central office. Reactions rolled in from across the city Tuesday.
“Did I know that it was coming down the pipe, and did I assume that it was going to get voted on the way it did? Yes,” said Amber Dawn Turner. “However, it still stings, as a local parent and as a teacher.”
Turner is a teacher and parent at Felicitas Mendez International, a magnet elementary school that will now move into Anderson Elementary and absorb students from two other sites. Even after four weeks of listening sessions, she doesn’t believe TPS really took the community’s concerns to heart. What she wants now is transparency.
“I want to know what’s next. What’s next for my fellow teachers, librarians, parents and things like that,” Turner said. “I did not feel confident in what they laid out last night.”
The decision will impact nearly 5,000 students by cutting 10,000 available seats across the state’s largest district. The 17 campuses will close their doors in May.
Many parents blamed themselves, or their kids, for the hours lost to the feed. But legal claims allege social media companies built in psychological triggers on purpose: intermittent rewards, endless scrolling, toxic social comparison, and recommendation engines that pull kids into content rabbit holes.
Now families are filing legal claims against platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
You may be eligible if:
Excessive social media use started under age 18
There was a diagnosis of an eating disorder, severe anxiety, depression, or self-harm
ClaimsHero checks whether you qualify for a claim and gets your family justice. Nothing upfront. We only get paid if your claim is successful.
The Oklahoma Rundown 📰
Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.
Here’s what’s happening in Oklahoma today:
Broken Arrow residents voice support for police chief during city council meeting (KJRH)
INTEGRIS Health to join Kaiser Permanente-backed Risant Health (StateImpact Oklahoma)
Tuberculosis concerns return at Enid Public Schools after officials confirm new case (KOCO)
Ponca City residents blame carbon company for illnesses tied to black dust (Gaylord News)
What to know about Oklahoma State Question 845 and its impact on the judiciary (KOSU)
Oklahoma board plans revote on Jewish charter school (Oklahoma Voice)
Pulpit politics: Johnson Amendment rarely enforced (Oklahoma Watch)
Five things to know about Oklahoma’s role in immigration detention (The Frontier)
Advocates say legal system chooses to incarcerate Black Oklahomans at higher rates, call for reform (KOSU)
Brent Swadley denies guilt, alleges corruption ahead of sentencing (KFOR)
Oklahoma’s first IKEA set to open Friday in Tulsa, with 5,000 products on display (The Oklahoma Eagle)
Jason Momoa filming 'Copperhead' in Oklahoma City draws local attention (KOCO)
Thursday Poll
Would you make a special trip to Tulsa to shop at Oklahoma's first IKEA?
Explain this to me!
What’s happening in Oklahoma that doesn’t make sense to you? Send me your question. I may answer it here in Oklahoma Memo or turn it into a video.
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