(The Center Square) – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has called for an audit of the spending of federal emergency COVID-19 money by the Tulsa Public Schools.
Tulsa Public Schools received $205.3 million in federal COVID money, or $6,304 per pupil. Oklahoma's schools received $2.1 billion overall in pandemic relief funding. By comparison, Broken Arrow school district – 14 miles from Tulsa – received $26.6 million, or $1,432 per pupil.
The reason for the discrepancy is that the formula to distribute federal COVID-19 money is weighted to favor school districts with students receiving government subsidies.
Tulsa's poverty rate was 18.3% in 2020 when it had a median household income of $49,474, according to the U.S. Census. Broken Arrow, by comparison had an 8.4% poverty rate and a median household income of $74,070 in 2020.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News