Charter school receives funding to serve more students and support staff development

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) -- The Tulsa Legacy Charter School is the first school in Oklahoma to be selected as a member of the 2017 Invent cohort at NewSchools Venture Fund.

The funding will allow TLCS to serve more students, provide more resources, develop new curriculum and support professional development opportunities for the staff and faculty.

“Getting the NewSchools grant is such an honor,” said Carlisha Williams, TLCS executive director.

TLCS serves a diverse group of students in the North Tulsa area with 98 percent qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch and 25 percent receiving special education services.

They currently educate about 580 students across two campuses and more than 480 students are on the wait list.

TLCS is a part of Tulsa Public Schools.

Williams said this funding is needed in a time when money is tight for the district but it won’t solve all of their problems.

“Budget cuts are very real right now and ultimately even as charter schools we receive about 30 percent less funding than a traditional public school due to the tax dollars that we do not get so when opportunities like this come across it is a huge, huge help to our budget,” she said. “There’s still very much so a deficit. As we approach this budget season and look at funding for next year in the public education sector for students to achieve and to have access to high-quality, equitable education.”

TLCS is one of 29 organizations receiving funding through the 2017 NewSchools Invent cohort.

NewSchools Invent gave nearly $5.5 million to the group of the schools selected.