On Friday, February 23, a phone call took place between Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson and Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters. During the call:

• As a follow up to the TPS presentation to the Oklahoma State Board of Education on Thursday, February 22, Superintendent Walters discussed a number of ideas aimed at supporting student achievement on the upcoming Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) assessments.
• Walters indicated that the state department of education wants to offer all available supports to Tulsa Public Schools. He suggested collaborating on the possibility of dispatching representatives from the state department of education to serve in Tulsa classrooms where substitute teachers are needed.
• In addition, he proposed a variety of ways Tulsa Public Schools might leverage the Oklahoma Teacher Empowerment Program (OTEP) to leverage the expertise of teachers meeting certain criteria to provide targeted instruction to students who need additional literacy support.
• Superintendent Walters requested that the district consider the collaboration and prepare a preliminary response proposal by midday Monday, February 26.

On Monday, February 26, Tulsa Public Schools Executive Director of Information and Analytics Sean Berkstresser spoke with OSDE Chief Academic Officer Todd Loftin to share initial thoughts on the proposal and ways to collaborate. Loftin requested a final plan be submitted by Friday, March 1.