Local News
Parents worry about safety
David Gradick was fairly typical of the Edmond parents who addressed the school board during Monday night’s public forum on restructuring school attendance boundaries.
He has a child attending an elementary school in the district.
He was worried about safety issues related to a rapidly growing district.
And he was concerned about her being moved out of her school.
“Before I go any further, my daughter asked me to please, please let her finish the fifth grade at Washington Irving since she’s gone there all of her years,” Gradick said.
“It seems a tragedy to pull her out right when she’s about to graduate.”
School board members and an audience of nearly 100 onlookers listened to Gradick and other parents who each had three minutes to voice their concerns.
Before they began, EPS Associate Superintendent for Operations Bret Towne described the plans to be considered by the school board during its regularly scheduled meeting in March.
There were two recommendations for West Field Elementary, being built south of the Second Street and North Pennsylvania Avenue intersection, and Centennial Elementary School, to be built northeast of the Coffee Creek and Coltrane intersection.
Another plan impacted Sunset Elementary School.
The residents of Copper Creek have a shared concern — safety, Gradick said. Residents and the City of Oklahoma City split costs for a study looking at traffic in the area.
Gradick said the study said there will be a lot of traffic in the Copper Creek addition area, in the order of 10,000-13,000 more automobiles in the future.
Gradick said the Oklahoma City City Council has not made solving the traffic problem a priority. He asked the board to use its influence to help persuade the council to do something about the problem.
“A child can’t walk across Pennsylvania,” he said. “We’ve recommended at least three stop lights in that one-mile section just to control this traffic.”
Toni James, president of the Northern Hills Parent Teacher Organization, favored Centennial plan No. 2, which would provide relief for John Ross Elementary, which faces overcrowding issues.
James asked other parents from Northern Hills in attendance to stand, one half of the audience stood in unison.
Other issues raised by parents included properly feeding school children, safety in the schools and accuracy on enrollment numbers for specific schools.
Several parents praised the realignment committee for its work on the issue.
(Education reporter Mark Schlachtenhaufen may be reached via e-mail at ms@edmondsun.com.)
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Elementary students raise $3,593 for charity
An area elementary school raised $3,593 that will give children clean drinking water where it does not otherwise exist.
Students at Deer Creek’s Prairie Vale Elementary School raised the money, which will be donated to WaterIsLife.com, an Edmond charity that gives water filters to children in developing countries.
The small, portable filters hang around the neck of a child and provide pure water for one year. Among other places, they are supplying clean water in Haiti, a nation recovering from the devastating earthquake that leveled much of the capital city. -
Memorial student produces CD for Swine Week
Edmond Memorial High School senior Bryce Merritt recorded his third CD this year and donated 100 percent of his proceeds to Swine Week, the annual fundraiser the high school put on this week.
The school chose to raise money this year for the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Children at the OU Medical Center.
Merritt has been singing since he was young, and he began performing at the Oklahoma Opry in Oklahoma City at age 10. Since then, he has performed at weddings and opened for musicians like Billy Currington and Craig Morgan at Frontier City. -
Spring Break offers fun, service
Mention of the words “Spring Break” conjures up images of tan college students partying on beaches or in night clubs.
As spring and summer breaks approach, many Edmond residents are preparing for trips abroad.
Janny Toma, a client service representative with Edmond’s Nichols Travel, said she has been extremely busy helping customers with travel arrangements leading up to the annual week of sun and fun. Toma said she has served families and students, who are going to places like the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and San Juan, Puerto Rico. -
Candidate takes aim at state salaries
An Oklahoma City businessman would lower executive pay for the governor and state of Oklahoma department and agency heads if voters elect him governor in November, he said.
Roger L. Jackson has joined Republicans vying for Oklahoma’s 2010 gubernatorial seat. Oklahomans For Roger Jackson for Oklahoma Governor 2010 has filed paperwork recently with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. -
Edmond Y breaks Strong Kids goal
The Edmond YMCA raised $105,291 during its Strong Kids Campaign this year, surpassing the goal of $105,000.
The money raised during the annual fundraiser supports families nationwide who cannot afford to be involved in the programs and services the Y offers.
All the YMCAs in the Oklahoma City area raised 99 percent of their goal, which was $926,100.
Although the Edmond Y raised more than its goal, Executive Director Mike Roark thinks that more money will trickle in even after the campaign, which ended Tuesday. -
3-12 Health: in brief
Bass Pro Shops hosts spring break blood drive Saturday
Bass Pro Shops and Oklahoma Blood Institute will team up in an Oklahoma City-area blood drive Saturday. All healthy adults 17 and older are encouraged to donate blood 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday in the bloodmobile at Bass Pro Shops, 200 Bass Pro Drive in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown. -
Police: ‘K2’ surfaces in Edmond
Law enforcement officials want Edmond parents to know local youth are using a new synthetic form of marijuana currently not included on the state’s list of outlawed drugs.
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Murder defendant loses attorney to ex-ME
An incomplete autopsy report and a conflict of interest related to the former chief medical examiner have caused delays in the “Bicycle Bob” murder case.
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Local economist sees rebound picking up
Take note if a positive forecast of the state’s economy brightens your day. Oklahoma’s economy is rebounding from the nationwide recession, said Mickey Hepner, associate professor of economics at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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