Multiple Oklahoma City Public Schools board members are Latino. Why that's important

About two-thirds of the students attending Oklahoma City Public Schools are of Latino descent — a percentage that’s steadily grown over the years — but the composition of the district’s school board hasn’t necessarily reflected that.

Only five people of Latino descent ever have served on the eight-person board, and only once — before now — have there been as many as two such people on the board at the same time. But the recent election of 25-year-old Jessica Cifuentes again gives the board two Latinos and provides leaders in Oklahoma City’s thriving Latino community with hope there could be more in the future.

Cifuentes, who defeated 59-year-old Cary Pirrong in an April 2 election for the District 3 seat, joins District 6 representative, Juan Lecona, on the board. In April 2023, Lecona became the first immigrant from Mexico to be elected to the board. Cifuentes is the first person of Guatemalan descent to serve on the board, and although records about such things aren’t readily available, she certainly is one of the youngest board members ever, district officials said.

“It’s a fantastic deal,” said David Castillo, the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the first Latino to serve on the Oklahoma City Board of Education. He represented District 6 from 2003 to 2011. “We actually need more. The board needs to mirror the community. One is good, two is better, anything else is best.”

During his time on the board, Castillo served with then-District 7 representative, Wilfredo Santos-Rivera, from 2006 to 2010. Gloria Torres served as the District 6 representative from 2014 to 2023, when Lecona was elected to that seat. All are of Mexican descent except Santos-Rivera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, Castillo said.

Lecona said it’s been challenging finding people in the Latino community willing to take on the commitment of serving on the school board, but he believes his election, and the subsequent election of Cifuentes, are indicators that change is happening.

“It’s time for us to step out our of our comfort zone and achieve greatness,” he said. “We came to achieve the American dream. Let’s do it — let’s be the American dream. … I hope we can continue to grow Latino leaders in the community and across the district.”

Leaders in Latino community, OKC school district note the importance of representation on board

Jason Brown, the district’s deputy superintendent, noted Cifuentes’ presence at her first board meeting on April 15 and stressed how important he thought her election was.

“Diversity is our strength,” Brown said. “We’re very proud of that diversity. We’re very excited when we see that we can be representative of our students and our families in our community. Representation does matter.”

Brown said Cifuentes was “representative of our Hispanic families in our community. Having a daughter of your generation, we can have the same values, we can have the same color, we can have the same background, upbringing, ethnicity, and I can tell you that generation sees things differently sometimes than we do. So to have multiple viewpoints and multiple voices, I think, can do nothing but add strength to our board.”

State Rep. Arturo Alonso Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, noted Lecona and Cifuentes come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and said the fact they are different genders is also important.

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“The Latino community isn’t a monolith,” Alonso Sandoval said. “It’s a community that does come from diverse backgrounds. It’s important to have more perspectives. Before, if at least 60 percent of OKCPS students are Hispanic, half of those are young Latinas — young Hispanic ladies. They weren’t really being fully represented, so having a young Latina serving as a school board member will be huge for them.”

Cifuentes — who spoke to the The Oklahoman at the law offices of state Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, where she works as his personal assistant — recognizes that responsibility.

“It’s been a lot about equitable representation,” Cifuentes said. “We’re representing a majority (of district students) right now. One of the biggest things about that is almost one-third of OKCPS students are Latinas. Who is representing those people? If I didn’t run, there wouldn’t have been anybody. Now being elected, it is me.

“In the space that we are in, this is all about education. Oklahoma is last in education. We are 50th out of 50 (states) in the nation … and the worst schools are in Oklahoma City Public Schools. The best schools are in Edmond, and they’re neighbors. So, unfortunately, the people that are being most affected are the Latino students, the Hispanic families. I couldn’t just stand idle and not do something about it. I had to jump in. We need that representation. We still need more.”

Cifuentes is both a student and a teacher, in addition to other responsibilities

Cifuentes grew up in Oklahoma City and attended James Buchanan Elementary School within the Oklahoma City district before moving to ASTEC Charter School for middle school and high school. She attended Emory University in Atlanta and earned a bachelor’s degree in materials science engineering before returning to Oklahoma.

She currently attends Metro Tech, a CareerTech center, where she is studying surgical technology, and is working this semester as a temporary science teacher at Mount St. Mary High School. Her ultimate goal is to attend medical school and eventually become a surgeon. But in the midst of that busy schedule, she said she believed it was important to be a voice for her generation and her culture in the public arena.

“It does take a lot of diligence, a lot of effort,” Cifuentes said. “What I would really like to do, with this situation, is inspire many people. You can do it all. If you want to become that person who runs for office and is an engineer … you can absolutely do it all.”

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According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, about 20.1% of Oklahoma City’s population is Hispanic. Castillo said the Latino community in Oklahoma City is comparatively young when compared to groups in other large cities like Dallas and has much room to continue its already rapid pace of growth. Eventually, he said, that growth will result in increased representation in local and state government.

Castillo played a role in the development of a Latino leadership program 11 years ago that aims to train younger Latinos to serve on local boards and to run for elected office.

“As we have an increase in the Latino community, there is an increase in U.S. citizens (among that community), as well and young people who were born here becoming eligible to vote,” Castillo said. “It takes time, but we’re starting to see that evolution occur. We see more kids graduating who were born here.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but a big part of it is educating Latinos and giving them information you don’t get in school. We take them to the Legislature or the city council meeting. That’s how we open their eyes to start running for offices and getting on committees. Young people are starting to look at things that they can do. … It’s so encouraging. It’s great to see young Latinos running. I hope to see more of it.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKCPS board has multiple Latino members for 1st time in a decade