OKEENE

Here are some pictures of the progress of the new gymnasium. As more come available, they will be updated.

**Public Notice**

Due to the imminent threat of the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus) the regularly scheduled Okeene Public School Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 9th will have certain changes and restrictions in place which correlate with CDC rules, regulations, and recommendations. These changes will be as follows:
• The board meeting will take place in the school library allowing for board members, administrators, and others to sit a minimum of six feet away from each other.
• We will follow CDC guidelines in allowing only 10 individuals to be present inside the meeting room at one time.
• Any additional seats available (up to the mandated 10 people) after board members, administrators, and the minutes clerk are seated will be disbursed on a first come first serve basis.
• Any guests present or patrons on the agenda to address the board of education will be asked to sit in their car and a member of our administrative staff will summons them one at a time to enter the school building and speak to the board. Once that individual is out of the building we will summons inside the next person wishing to address the board. This process will be repeated until each individual wishing to speak before the board has had their opportunity to speak.
• At the conclusion of the meeting board members, administrators, minutes clerk, and guests will be asked to leave the building as quickly as possible with limited contact with each other.

We apologize for any inconvenience, but these are unprecedented times in which we are currently living, and we want to take every precaution necessary to keep everyone healthy and safe.

In Addition—

The Okeene Public Schools will hold there regularly scheduled board meeting on Thursday, April 9^th at 7:00PM.  Although Senate Bill 661 allows for any district to hold meetings by teleconference or video conference our local board decided they would prefer to follow CDC guidelines and conduct our meeting on-sight with restrictions in place to protect all in attendance.  Postponing the any type of meeting any longer whether it be a regular meeting, emergency meeting, or special meeting was not an option as we are already a week into April and Salaries along with monthly bills must be approved and paid.  We realize and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however the circumstances that have become our new normal in everyday life has become an inconvenience to us all as well.  

Although school buildings are closed the administration office has remained open Monday-Thursday from 8:00 am-12:00 pm and 1:00 pm-2:00 pm throughout the so called two-week dead period and will remain open to meet child nutrition requirements, clerical duties, and administrative reports and duties that are still required from our school by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.  We do ask if you enter our office, practice social distancing and limit the number of individuals in our office to under ten.  We are also available by phone at 580-822-3268 during those hours mentioned above.  

If you wish to address the board with any concerns, that option is available to you as it has always been.  We have established the criteria for speaking to our board for the foreseeable future or until the limitations have been lifted by government officials.  If you are unable to attend the board meeting for various reasons (health or otherwise) we will gladly read any prepared statements to the board expressing your concerns.  We just ask you abide by the same guidelines (filling out the required form, length of time allowed) as someone who would be speaking directly to the board would have.   The criteria for the upcoming board meeting was released above.  In short, the procedure for speaking has not changed and your opportunity to address the board still remains.  

Thank-you for your support and understanding during these unprecedented times.

Sincerely, 

Mike Jinkens

The Jr/Sr High currently has two job openings. Please click here for more information on how to apply!

Please click the Renissance icon for information regarding Elementary AR Testing:  

Josten's has released a Harbor special from Mike Smith titled “Rooted in Love”, which acknowledges the challenges of this moment and calls for building community and taking care of each other. It is a powerful statement for students, teachers and parents about finding the common threads in what we all are feeling, and using those threads to connect with each other even as we are separating ourselves.