OKC FRIDAY Vol. 58 No. 3 • Two Sections • 44 pages • May 24, 2024 $1 per copy
See our Salute to the Class of 2024 in today’s edition.
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday OKC’s only locally-owned legal newspaper with all local news Serving affluent far north Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills and The Village for 50 years
Heritage Hall Lifers Heritage Hall Lifers attend a final Charger Shine assembly at the Lower School, from left: Front row, Madi Williams, Leah Hughes, Elise Douglas, Katerina Chrysant, Natalie Beams, Chloe Counts and Katherine Cook; second row, Zane Watters, Ben Showalter, Gray Keller, Kaeden Woods, Grayson Hume, Cole Spence, Roger Smith and Ethan LaGere; and back row, Carter Counts, Emerson Ritenour, Callahan Lowry, Daniel Drozd, Carson Beam, Sam Fowler, Holden Williams and Gray Ferguson.
Online petition calls for ouster of principal at Classen SAS By Eric Oesch Staff Writer Earlier this month Classen School of Advanced Studies at Northeast, 3100 N. Kelley Ave., was named Oklahoma’s Best High School by U.S. News and World Report, but a Change.org petition signed by over 961 individuals is requesting the removal of the school’s principal Dr. Misti Tope.
The petition and community comments on the Change.org petition express concerns about Dr. Tope’s decisions and behavior as a leader at Oklahoma City Public Schools. The petition cites concerns that Dr. Tope is leading the school in the wrong direction, racism, cuts to athletic programs, firing teachers indiscriminately and the discontinuation of the JROTC pro-
gram among many others. This school year Classen SAS at Northeast had an enrollment of 743 students in grades 9-12. The school is an application school, meaning students are not zoned for this school with student attendees from throughout the Oklahoma City metro area including other school districts. Students apply to attend the school and are selected
using test scores, interviews and/or auditions. Numerous Fridayland students attend the prestigious school. “District leaders have been made aware of a petition circulating in the CSAS@NE community,” said Kendall Still, Instructional Leadership Director and Dr. Melanie Mouse, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education for OKCPS in a message sent to faculty and
staff. “With misinformation being shared, we wanted to provide some clarity related to programs at CSAS@NE. “There will not be any cuts to athletic programs for the 2023-2024 school year and that decision is not dependent upon the site principal,” the message said. “The school will continue to offer softball, football, cross-country See CLASSEN, Page 3
Barbershoppers earn trip to internationals
NHills approves Coyote Management Plan
By Rose Lane Editor
Officials in Nichols Hills have approved a Coyote Management Plan in case residents have issues with coyotes wandering into the city and their neighborhood. The nine-page document was developed using information obtained from the Humane Society of the United States and covers reasons coyotes are attracted to urban areas including food, water, access to shelter. The management plan was
Two Oklahoma City barbershoppers, Greg Rogers and Mark Winn, attended the Southwestern District Spring Convention in Dallas, Texas, to qualify for international competition. Rogers and Winn co-direct the award-winning Vocal Sounds of Oklahoma, a men’s barbershop chorus of the Oklahoma City Chapter. Rogers sings with his quartet, OverDrive, See QUARTETS, Page 3
By Eric Oesch Staff Writer
OKC FRIDAY: Fabulous at 50
Former news editor: ‘Not a typical paper’ By Mike Ray Former OKC FRIDAY News Editor One of the highlights of my so-far 55-year career in journalism occurred three and a half decades ago when Leland Gourley hired me to be his news editor at OKC FRIDAY. At the time I was between jobs (a euphemism for “out of work”). Oklahoma City scheduled a general obligation bond issue in 1989 that included a multitude of projects. I asked Mr. Gourley if we could print the entire list of proposed projects, along with a story relating the
typical details (the date of the election, the amount of the bonds, the payoff period, the cost per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, etc.). As I recall, Leland had a three word reply: “Go for it.” The story and the laundry list of projects filled an entire broadsheet page of OKC FRIDAY. Ultimately we produced more coverage of that bond issue than The Oklahoman did. The proposal passed. One day I asked Mr. Gourley why he founded OKC FRIDAY. It was See 50, Page 3
requested by council member Steve Goetzinger following reports of coyotes in the city. The document encourages residents to never hand-feed or intentionally feed a coyote, never feed pets outdoors, store all pet food securely indoors, secure all trash containers with locking lids, clean up fallen fruit around trees and remove bird feeders or clean fallen seed to reduce the presence of small mammals that coyotes prefer to eat. “I don’t believe we’ve had many complaints about coyotes recently,” said City Manager
FRIDAY’s Dog of the Week Hershey is a one-year-old brindle French Bulldog who belongs to Nadia Johnson. He loves to run and play with any ball in his vast collection. He's still learning the puppy Do's and Don'ts and is not fond of dog parks yet. Email Dog of the Week, Baby of the Week and Cat of the Week submissions to rose@okcfriday.com.
Shane Pate during the May 14 city council meeting. “We had a complaint filed a year or two ago, and then seasonally we would receive notice of a coyote.” The document says most coyotes weigh 25-235 pounds, although their long legs and thick fur make them appear larger. Since coyotes are naturally very skittish and afraid of humans, they are rarely seen. Thus, their signs including prints, scat and vocalizations may be a better indicator of their presence. See COYOTE, Page 3