04/07/2026
Central Tech Superintendent Discusses Proposed Levy
By Charles Betzler
The Sapulpa Herald sat down with Kent Burris, Central Tech Superintendent, to talk about the facts behind the proposed 2-mill levy.
Superintendent Buriis began by explaining the need for the additional funds:
“The ask for the additional two mills is really about the 402 kids on the waitlist.
We have this pipeline of students who come in; there are 1,600 students who want to be in Central Tech programs.
There are 400 who can't fit inside the facilities; they literally can't fit inside the facilities that we currently have. We don't have a classroom for them; we don't have a teacher for them.
So they will move off onto their path, whatever that is, without the benefit of Central Tech, which could literally change the trajectory of their life.
That's what we believe. The most disappointing part of this is that right behind those 1,200 who got in and those 1,600 who wanted in, there is another cohort right behind them next year of
1200 who will get in and be accepted into our programs, and 414 will be left outside our doors.
That just repeats itself every single year. So, 400 got away from this year who are going to go out and try to establish careers without the benefits of Central Tech.
The number of lives we could change for the better, in my belief, is just exponential; it just keeps on multiplying every single year.
We have to build additional facilities to have space to house additional classrooms and lab spaces for additional programs.
So it's really about adding capacity and adding new program offerings to address workforce needs so that students can come here to get the training that they need to make a change in their lives and help the workforce as a whole.
So that is one side of it. The other part of that is our early career exploration program, which we call the Explorer program, which is a middle school/junior high, rich, hands-on learning experience that exposes kids to what careers are out there.
It is scientifically documented that students only do what they see in their circle; if you can't see it, you can't be it. They do what their mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin, or somebody they see does for that job.
Those students can make decisions about what they want their educational careers to look like, and beyond that, is super helpful.
Burrsi addressed the misconception that government funding and tuition cover the cost to operate Central Tech.
First of all, 70 percent of our budget comes from local ad valorem (taxes), only 15 to 20 percent comes from state funding, and roughly another five percent comes from federal funding.
Almost all of our federal funding is Pell Grants, which pay tuition for students in adult programs.
We don't use it for anything else.
Our state funding, a big part of it, covers our truck driver training program.
The majority of our funding comes from ad valorem, and an even smaller portion of that comes from tuition. We only have four adult programs; the rest of our population is school juniors and seniors who do not pay tuition. So our tuition revenue is not a significant part of our revenue structure.”
Superintendent Burris addressed the issue of the levy not having an ending date:
We have had a three-mill levy since 1998, so it has been 28 years since we asked for an increase.
We are seeing an uptick in the percentage of students that we are receiving, and we anticipate that's going to continue to grow. We are going to build additional facilities with this money, and it's going to take additional monies to maintain them.
They are recurring costs, but they are eligible to be paid for out of the building fund.
We are going to shift some of the things that we are paying for out of the general fund nowinto the building fund and utilize that to pay the salaries of teachers for the Explorer program and other things that are associated with that program.
That's going to cost about $2 million, and that leaves $1.4 million; that will go into a war chest, an account that we will save up until we have enough money to build another building, coupled with the three million that we have on the books, so it will accumulate faster.”
He finished his explanation by stating that a permanent levy ensures continued sufficient funding regardless of what the state legislature does regarding ad valorem.
Burris concluded the interview by stating why you should vote yes for the proposition on April 7:
“There are 402 students who could have their lives changed who are getting past us. Those trajectories will be hard to change once they get past. And that happens every single year; more than 400 will go by next year. We have to find a place and a physical location, a building to educate them and give them the training they need to change the trajectory of their lives. They don't have another opportunity; they have to have a space to get that triang in, and that's what we need.”
It should be pointed out that the formula for assessing ad valorem is 12 percent of the market value. Thus, a $200,000 home would be assessed at a value of $24,000, and a two-mill levy would result in an additional $48 in taxes annually.
