Oklahoma
Oklahoma lawmakers to consider expanding school meal programs, but GOP views vary
Lawmakers and child nutrition advocates say there’s a “growing conversation” at the state Capitol on expanding school meal programs, but opinions among the Republican majority are mixed.
The topic has been in and out of Oklahoma news headlines over the past year, most recently when Gov. Kevin Stitt turned down federal funds for a summer food assistance program for children.
Families and schools have reported confusion and outstanding cafeteria debt since the federal government stopped paying for universal free meals in schools. The pandemic relief program lasted for two years and ended in June 2022.
Some Republican lawmakers say they want to boost the state’s investment in providing free meals in schools. Others say they’re not interested in footing the bill for expired federal initiatives.
Last year, a bill to raise the household income threshold for a student to qualify for free meals passed the state House with overwhelming support, but the state Senate never gave it a hearing.
That legislation, House Bill 1376, is still eligible for consideration when lawmakers gavel in for their next session on Feb. 5.
The bill’s author, Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, filed two more pieces of legislation on the issue. Garvin said she developed both bills with Hunger Free Oklahoma, an organization advocating against food insecurity.
Senate Bill 1473 is a farm-to-school program that would offer grants to local farmers and producers to grow fresh products for school districts. It also would offer grants to schools to buy locally grown food products.
Garvin’s SB 1363, called the Thrive Act, would reimburse 80% to 100% of the cost for high-poverty schools to offer free meals to all of their students, as long as they also enroll in the federal government’s Community Eligibility Provision program. The CEP program reimburses schools for the same purpose — providing free meals to all students regardless of their family’s income.
These bills could build the local market for Oklahoma-grown products while helping schools provide more free meals and fresher food, said Chris Bernard, Hunger Free Oklahoma’s president and CEO.
“We do believe in stronger local food systems, and we’d love to see kids eat more fresh vegetables,” Bernard said. “This was a way to kind of include all those things to make it more economically viable for schools, build the local food system (and) create healthier options.”
Investing in child nutrition is “imperative” to improve health and academic outcomes in the state, Garvin said. But she said she’s unsure what action the Legislature will ultimately take.
The head of the Senate Appropriations Committee said he’s open to the idea of spending more state dollars to expand access to free and reduced-price meals in schools. Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, filed a bill to create a universal electronic form for families to apply for these discounts.
Thompson said there’s a “growing conversation” in the state Legislature to tackle food insecurity.
“Raising levels (of state support), especially in the current economic environment, does not discourage me at all,” he said.
But, Thompson said he doesn’t envision Oklahoma paying for free meals for all public school students, as some states have done. Nor does Sen. Adam Pugh, the lawmaker in charge of committees on education policy and funding.
Pugh, R-Edmond, said he and most members of the Senate Education Committee don’t support the state taking on the cost of expanding free meals in schools now that the federal program has expired.
Rather, he prefers to explore ways to “leverage local sources of food.”
“The votes were not there to move any of those bills last year because it was just footing the bill for the program that was going to end at the federal level,” Pugh said. “But I think there’s a lot of ways to still get a concept like that passed but do it in an Oklahoma way, do it responsibly, do it where it’s got a lower fiscal impact but has a higher nutritional and educational impact for the kid.”
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Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.
For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.
“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.
Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.
“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.
The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.
CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.
“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.
The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.
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NORMAN — Cord Rager’s return comes at a pivotal time for Skip Johnson’s Oklahoma Sooners. Not only do they get their day three starter back in time for big road matchups against Auburn and Arkansas on the horizon, but the Sooners pitching strength, their rotational depth, is primed and ready for the test.
The freshman lefty finished with eight strikeouts and only gave up one hit in only 65 pitches before his day ended in the sixth.
No. 14 Oklahoma earn its first conference sweep of the season, defeating Missouri 8-4. It was OU’s fourth conference series win.
Oklahoma (27-12, 10-8) put their best foot forward as they turn the page to the meat of their schedule where they will do battle against No. 13, No. 20 and No. 16 over the next three weeks — two of those series’ on the road.
Four runs in five hits in the second got things rolling for the Sooners.
Camden Johnson continued his brilliant play of late with a triple in the second. This came after a Brenden Brock solo home run to put OU up 1-0. Deiten LaChance grounded out to short but scored Johnson. Dasan Harris and and Nolan Stevens each found home before the inning ended.
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OU found fortune from the plate again in the fourth. Four runs off of four hits highlighted by a three-run home run by Johnson put Oklahoma up 8-0. It was Johnson’s seventh home run of the season, second on the team behind Brock’s nine.
Trent Collier got the nod in the sixth to relieve Rager.
In the seventh, Missouri finally got on the board for the first time since the ninth inning of Friday night’s Sooner victory. Cam Durnin hit a solo shot — his fourht of the season — to make the score 8-1 in favor of the home team.
The Tigers got their third hit of the game shortly after. From there, Collier’s short day was done. Gavyn Jones came on to relieve
LaChance missed a home run by inches when Tiger center fielder Kaden Peer made a leaping catch, jumping into the fence.
In the eighth, the Tigers continued to chip away. With bases loaded, Blaze Ward hit a basehit to score two Missouri base runners. OU led 8-3 heading into the final inning.
Harris led the Sooners with three hits. His day was accented by an RBI, stolen base and a run.
Oklahoma will travel to Auburn to take on the No. 13 Tigers for a three game series starting on Friday. Before that, they will host Oral Roberts for a midweek game at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman. The Sooners won 4-0 against ORU earlier this season.
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New Iowa State wrestling coach Brent Metcalf outlines vision for team
New Iowa State wrestling coach Brent Metcalf outlines vision for team
Iowa State wrestling’s first commitment of the Brent Metcalf era will be a transfer portal addition.
The Cyclones added Oklahoma State transfer Brayden Thompson, who announced his commitment on April 18 via Instagram. Thompson is a one-time NCAA qualifier at the 2024 NCAA Championships, doing so as a true freshman. He redshirted in 2024-25, but competed in open tournaments at 184 pounds and was 9-0. He did not wrestle a match in 2025-26 and will have at least two years of eligibility remaining.
Out of high school, Thompson was ranked the No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler and No. 1 at 182 pounds in the 2023 recruiting class by Flowrestling. He also won Powerade and Ironman titles, two of the more prestigious high school tournaments in the nation. Assuming Thompson returns to 184 pounds where he last wrestled, he should fill in nicely as a potential replacement for Isaac Dean after his graduation.
Thompson is Iowa State’s first transfer portal addition after several departures, including Anthony Echemendia and Christian Castillo, who also entered the portal.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
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