OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. — As dry conditions and high temperatures persist across much of the state, a burn ban is now in effect for Oklahoma County.

On Wednesday, the Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners enacted a county-wide burn ban due to the extreme fire danger.

Under the ban, it is illegal to set fire to any forest, grass, range, crop or other wildlands. Building a campfire or bonfire and burning trash or other material is also prohibited.

However, outdoor cooking in approved cooking appliances is allowed with caution.

Anyone who is caught violating the resolution will be guilty of a misdemeanor and could face a $500 fine and up to one year in prison.

The ban, which began on March 25, will remain in effect for 14 days.

Senate Bill 1339 by Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, finalizes teacher pay raises of $3,000 to $6,000 approved by lawmakers in 2023. Pugh introduced the measure on the Senate floor on Tuesday.

“This is to reconcile the access to dollars that were calculated for teacher pay raise and allowing the state Department of Education to use those dollars for that pay raise,” Pugh said.

Pugh also presented SB 201, which raises the minimum salary schedule for teachers by another $2,000 this year, and SB 1189, which appropriates $50 million to the School Security Revolving Fund, to be split equally among all school districts in the state annually for the next three years.

“I’m all in on trying to figure out, whether it be through the funding formula, the teacher empowerment funds or other unique and innovative ways… to have a baseline of pay and funding dollars for school districts, but also reward schools really for growth,” Pugh said in defense of his proposals.

Some Republican lawmakers question budget impact

While the measures passed the Senate floor with overwhelming support from both parties, Pugh’s fellow lawmakers questioned their fiscal impact and whether paying teachers more actually improves educational outcomes.

Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, raised questions about the fiscal impact in light of a tight state budget this year, first regarding SB 1339.

“What is the estimated fiscal impact on this, including maybe projected costs in the first year and over the next couple of years?” Sacchieri asked.

Pugh said the measure has no fiscal impact this year because it makes existing appropriations available for disbursement on a more permanent basis. The attached dollar amount three years ago was $500 million.

Sacchieri also pressed the education chair about the cost of his other proposals, given this year’s projected budget shortfall. SB 201 allocates about $92 million from the General Revenue Fund for a $2,000 pay raise for teachers beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, wondered about the relationship between the money spent on teacher pay and any measurable improvements in student outcomes.

“What measurable outcomes are tied to this increase in spending?” Deevers said.

Pugh said his bills don’t specify any provable outcomes tied to teacher pay raises alone because raising teacher pay is part of a larger plan, along with his proposed investments in early reading and math intervention programs.

He added that the pay raises aim to keep experienced educators in classrooms long-term, as school districts across the state struggle with retention and are forced to fill gaps with emergency certified teachers with less experience and training.

“Having a qualified teacher in the classroom every single day is the number one factor in a child’s education,” Pugh said. “We’re actually bending that curve down in terms of the number of emergency certifications. I think our high water mark as a state was somewhere around 4,500 … emergency certifications. I think this year will probably end significantly below 4,000.”

Quiet for most of the discussion on the measures, Sen. Cari Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, took the opportunity during the debate of SB 201 to point towards the big-picture problem as she sees it.

“As we have heard that we’re bending the curve down on emergency certified individuals in our classrooms, that is accurate,” Hicks said. “There are currently 2,664 emergency certified in the 2025-2026 academic calendar year.”

But she said that, even with the upcoming investments, Oklahoma is still far behind other states in the region, such as Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, in its per-student investment rate.

“We are $2.1 billion behind the regional investment per student,” Hicks said. “Salary is one component of whether or not our students have the resources… to meet their academic potential.”

And until more students reach that potential, she said, Oklahoma lawmakers must remain “laser-focused” on spending strategically to help its children get there.

A pair of Patty Gasso’s Sooners earned recognition for clutch performances against Ole Miss over the weekend. 

Veteran Isabela Emerling was named SEC Co-Player of the Week after her clutch grand slam powered Oklahoma past the Rebels on Monday, and sophomore Audrey Lowry earned SEC Pitcher of the Week after two outstanding appearances. 

Emerling, a redshirt senior, needed just one pitch to change Monday’s series finale. 

She stepped in to pinch hit for freshman Allyssa Parker in the sixth inning and ruined Kyra Aycock’s outing. 

Emerling connected with the first pitch she saw and parked a grand slam deep beyond the fence in left field to put OU on top 5-2.

It was Emerling’s 11th homer of the year, which is three shy of her career-high, and it was the seventh grand slam of her career. 

She also homered in the Sooners’ mid-week triumph over Memphis and hit .545 for the week with a 1.091 slugging percentage. 

Lowry pitched 7 2/3 total innings across two appearances against the Rebels and allowed zero runs. 

She got the start in Saturday’s opener, then stepped in for Sydney Berzon with OU down 2-1 and shut the Rebels out to earn the victory in relief. 

Lowry accounted for five strikeouts and gave up four free passes (two walks and two hit batters) in the pair of appearances. 

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For the season, she’s now 15-1, which ranks third nationally in wins, and has a 2.08 ERA with a 52-9 strikeout to walk ratio across 67 1/3 innings of action. 

Emerling and Lowry became the second OU duo to capture recognition in the same week, and it was the first time both have been honored individually by the SEC this season. 

The No. 5 Sooners will be back on the road this weekend to take on No. 20 LSU.

The series will serve as a reunion for Avery Hodge and Paytn Monticelli, who are both former Sooners, as well as Berzon, who spent the first three years of her collegiate career in Baton Rouge. 

Hodge transferred to LSU following the 2024 season, and Monitcelli departed Norman this past offseason. 

Berzon is coming off her longest outing as a Sooner, where she threw 57 pitches and allowed zero earned runs on Monday against Ole Miss. 

The series opener is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday.