TPS School Board is Voice for District
By EMILY RAMSEY
Managing Editor
“The school board is a liaison between the public and the Tulsa Public Schools administration and therefore plays an important role in delivering the voice of the community in the decisions Tulsa Public Schools makes for our kids,” says Suzanne Schreiber, who started serving on the school board in February.
Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education is made up of seven members, who each represent a portion of the school district and its residents. Members serve five-year terms, are elected to their seats and are not paid for their services.
“I chose to run for the school board because I believe in Tulsa and I believe in our kids,” says Shreiber. “I know that if the community, parents and teachers work together we can deliver a high-quality, rigorous education that every child deserves and needs to succeed in life. I am honored to be a part of that process.”
In addition, Schreiber is proud of the district’s recent and innovative partnership with three public charter schools: “This partnership will allow for to fill in gaps in some areas of our highest need and enrich our portfolio of schools and ways we deliver public education.”
Schreiber has lived in Tulsa for more than 20 years. Her passion for public education is fueled by her belief that every child can learn, and the community is strengthened when all children have access to a quality education.
Dr. Leigh Goodson, Tulsa Community College president, began on the school board in 2012.
Goodson is most proud of the district’s work regarding Teacher and Leader Effectiveness. “It is possibly the most significant endeavor has pursued in recent history,” she says. “To work with teachers and leaders in a very intentional way toward excellence is a positive shift in culture.”
Goodson joined the board for a list of reasons but one of the largest ones being that the board holds the responsibility of hiring a superintendent. “Leadership is everything,” she says. “Leading a large urban district can be very challenging and when faced with building strong relationships and making tough decisions, it is ultimately the superintendent that keeps the beat for the district.”
Ruth Ann Fate has been on the school board since 1996. Fate is a native Oklahoman who graduated from high school in Miami, Okla., and attended the University of Oklahoma.
“The board is important because we carry the wide vision of all students,” she says.
When Fate joined the school board, she had already been involved in education through her church, where she helped to establish the Bethany Community School, 6730 S. Sheridan Rd. She taught various classes there for 10 years.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the choices we have offered for high school students,” says Fate, including the arts, engineering, television and culinary programs.
Gary Percefull gained his seat on the board in 2003. He is a graduate of Memorial High School and the University of Oklahoma where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Wilbert Collins joined the school board in 2012. Collins graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and Tulsa Junior College (now Tulsa Community College). He then entered the U.S. Army where he was selected to attend the Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss Army Base located in El Paso, Texas. He has served a combined 27 years on active and reserve duty for the U.S. Army, retiring as a command sergeant major.
Collins was elected as the first African-American county commissioner for Tulsa in 1998.
Dr. Lana Turner-Addison was elected to her post in April 2005.
Turner-Addison holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in urban education from Langston University and a doctoral degree from Oklahoma State University.
As a fourth-generation East Tulsa resident, Shawna Keller graduated from East Central High School and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Tulsa and her teaching certification from Northeastern State University. Keller is currently a teacher at Owasso Ram Academy and was named the Ram Academy’s Teacher of the Year in 2011.
Updated 09-25-2014
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