Attorneys for Ryan Walters, state ed board defend their actions against Edmond district

A slew of filings in the Edmond school district's lawsuit against state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Oklahoma State Department of Education includes briefs from the new outside attorneys for Walters, the state board and the agency, as well as from two nonprofit organizations supporting the Edmond's stance.

Edmond Superintendent Angela Grunewald said the lawsuit was filed after Walters and the state agency threatened to have the state board lower Edmond's accreditation because two books, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, are in the libraries of the district’s three high schools.

Edmond Public Schools asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction in the case — thus bypassing the district-court level — and decide whether the state Board of Education or a local elected school board has the authority to establish policies concerning books in the district’s libraries. Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the process through which the state board created new rules regarding library media, saying it didn’t have the legal authority to do so. The district also asked the Supreme Court to issue “a writ of prohibition” that would prevent the state board “from proceeding further” against the district, but a hearing into that request was canceled after the state agency agreed to stay enforcement proceedings against the district while the lawsuit proceeds.

Attorneys for Walters say Edmond district 'brought the wrong action at the wrong time in the wrong court'

Filing the department's response to the lawsuit were three attorneys from the Goodwin/Lewis law firm in Oklahoma City — Paul Cason, Jason Reese and Emmalee Barresi. Barresi is the daughter-in-law of former state schools Superintendent Janet Barresi, who served in that statewide elected office from 2011-2015. Such a brief often would be filed by an internal agency attorney, but the Education Department is searching for a new general counsel with the recent departure of Bryan Cleveland, who resigned after a little more than 14 months on the job.

The response begins in fiery fashion, saying the Edmond district “seeks to turn the Oklahoma Supreme Court into a library committee," poring over literary awards and book reviews. The attorneys said their brief "shall intentionally ignore the merits and flaws of the two books" and focus on whether the Education Department had the authority to set the rules and did so legally.

In the brief, Walters’ attorneys argue the district hasn’t met the burden for the state Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction in the case. They argued the state board had acted legally within its right to set the rules.

Walters' attorneys said an opinion issued last year by state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, which said no state agency has the authority to create administrative rules unless the Legislature first enacts a related law, “misconstrues relevant statutes and precedents.” In the brief, they ask the court to rule that the opinion — which has the force of law in lieu of a court decision — not be binding upon them.

Walters’ attorneys said the Edmond district “has brought the wrong action at the wrong time in the wrong court.”

Nonprofit organizations join fellow school districts in support of Edmond's lawsuit

Conversely, briefs filed by two nonprofit organizations — the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA) and Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) — include arguments in support of the Edmond district’s case.

The CCOSA argues the state board’s new library rules “exceed the scope of any legal authority the State Board may have to adopt and enforce them” and would “increase the likelihood of litigation against school administrators attempting compliance.”

Similarly, the OSSBA brief said the state agency’s reading of the new rules “results in an impermissible delegation of legislative authority” and notes the Legislature specifically disapproved the new library media rules last year. Despite that disapproval, Gov. Kevin Stitt approved them anyway.

Walters has called both of those nonprofit groups “woke” organizations without defining that term. In announcing in January the Education Department would no longer work with those two organizations or the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, Walters said the groups "work in tandem with national extremist groups that seek to undermine parents, force failed policies into the schools, and work against a quality education in Oklahoma." He provided no specifics as to how they do so.

The CCOSA is an umbrella organization for a group of professional organizations, including the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals, the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principals, the Oklahoma Middle Level Education Association and the Oklahoma Directors of Special Services.

The OSSBA is governed by a 32-member board of directors composed of local school board members, who are elected by taxpayers of their respective districts.

The CCOSA and OSSBA have joined three large school districts — Deer Creek Public Schools, Mid-Del Public Schools and Oklahoma City Public Schools — in expressing public support of the Edmond district’s position.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters, ed board respond to Edmond schools' library lawsuit