FORT SILL, Okla. (Aug. 28, 2014) -- Getting off her phone, Susan Murray, had just talked to a family who is PCSing to Fort Sill in December. They were choosing where they we going to live based on a school district.
"We do have a few families who do plan that far ahead, and I've pulled together a great deal of school information that is available," she said. "So that families know what to expect -- like most of the elementary schools in Lawton require uniforms now."
In her role as the Child, Youth and School Services' school liaison officer, Murray assists Fort Sill families with school needs whether it involves public schools, private schools or homeschooling.
Fort Sill families use 17 school districts in the area including Benapache, Frederick, Marlow and Duncan.
"The majority of our students attend Lawton, Elgin, Cache and Bishop public schools," said Murray, who has been on the job for 1.5 years.
Murray assists parents with such issues as advance placement of students, private school tuition information, transfer of credits and district transfers.
For example, a high school student who has been taking a language course that is not offered at their school, but is offered at another high school in the same district may qualify for an intra-district transfer to continue their language studies, she said.
One Oklahoma law that parents with high school students may not be aware of is that students applying for a driver's license must provide documentation that they have passed an eighth grade reading level test.
"Most high school students have taken an equivalent of that, but they just may not know it or their transcirpts may not indicate that," said Murray, who worked for Oklahoma State University for 34 years and most recently as its Duncan-extension 4-H specialist for 20 counties."I have a list of about 30 approved tests, so they've probably taken something [that qualifies]."
Federal education privacy laws prohibit schools from discussing a specific student with Murray.
"I can make school officials aware of a problem, but they can not discuss a student with me," she said. "Sometimes that a source of frustration for all of us."
Murray is also available to assist homeschool parents. She estimates there are about 100 homeschooled Fort Sill students.
For families who are moving to other forts, Murray recommends they contact those posts' respective school liaison officers to get school information before they arrive.
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