Oklahoma § 70-2623 - Qualifications

§ 70-2623. Qualifications

A. Subject to the availability of funds, the Oklahoma State

Regents for Higher Education may annually award a maximum of three

hundred full-time-equivalent scholarships for the Tulsa

Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Program to residents of

the Tulsa School District.

B. To qualify for a scholarship, an applicant shall satisfy the

following criteria:

1. The family income of the applicant from taxable sources is

not more than Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000.00) per year;

2. The applicant attended a Tulsa public school where seventyfive percent (75%) or more of the students enrolled in the school

qualify for the free and reduced lunch program; and

3. The applicant resides in a census block area within the

Tulsa School District where thirty percent (30%) or more of the

residents are at or below the poverty level established by the

United States Bureau of the Census.

C. The Regents may consider as a factor, when determining the

order of preference of applicants, whether an applicant is a direct

lineal descendant of a person who resided in the Greenwood Area in

the City of Tulsa between April 30, 1921, and June 1, 1921. If the

Regents use descent as a preference factor, it shall be applied to

all applicants regardless of race. The applicants shall be required

to present verifiable documentation of their lineage. The Oklahoma

Historical Society shall verify the authenticity and accuracy of the

documentation submitted by an applicant and shall establish the

boundaries of the Greenwood Area. Verifiable documentation shall

include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Family records including family bibles, vital records,

correspondence, memoirs, journals, diaries, unrecorded deeds,

diplomas, certificates, or testimonials;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools

2. Public records including censuses, government records,

military records, pensions, land bounty records, passport

applications, passenger lists, original grants, naturalization or

immigration records, records of entry, or state, province, or local

records; or

3. Institutional records including church records, cemetery

records and inscriptions, education institutions, insurance records,

or societies and fraternal organizations.

D. The Regents shall promulgate rules establishing the

application requirements for the program and the system for

evaluating applications based on the preference factors.

E. Applicants shall also meet the eligibility criteria

established in Section 2624 of this title.

F. The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shall also

be authorized to annually award scholarships for the Tulsa

Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Program to two students at

each of the high schools in the Tulsa School District for the

purpose of preserving awareness of the history and meaning of the

civil unrest that occurred in Tulsa in 1921. The following

provisions shall apply to the scholarship provided in this

subsection:

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B of this

section, eligibility for the scholarships awarded pursuant to this

subsection shall be:

a.

enrollment in the appropriate high school,

b.

family income of the applicant from taxable sources

not to exceed Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000.00)

per year,

c.

satisfaction of the criteria specified in Section 2624

of this title, and

d.

any other relevant criteria determined by the Oklahoma

State Regents for Higher Education;

2. The State Regents shall involve the administration of the

Tulsa School District in the selection process;

3. The award shall be limited to a one-year full-timeequivalent period. Following successful completion of such award,

recipients who meet the criteria provided in subsection B of this

section shall be eligible to apply and be considered for continued

participation in the full Tulsa Reconciliation Education and

Scholarship Program. Any student subsequently awarded such

scholarship shall have the duration of the scholarship provided

pursuant to this subsection deducted from the limits set in

subsection D of Section 2625 of this title;

4. The award may only be funded with state funds appropriated

to the Tulsa Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Trust Fund and

income therefrom, and shall be made subject to the availability of

such funds; and

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools

5. The awards made pursuant to this subsection shall be

included within the maximum number of scholarships specified in

subsection A of this section.

Added by Laws 2001, c. 315, § 17. Amended by Laws 2002, c. 395, §

8, eff. Nov. 1, 2002.