What led to Sean McDaniel's resignation as OKCPS superintendent? Emails shine a light.

Communication issues between Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Sean McDaniel and members of the district's board of education, particularly regarding the district’s treatment of charter schools, seemed to be a source of friction leading up to his unexpected resignation last month, emails obtained by The Oklahoman indicate.

In his resignation letter, McDaniel stated that he and "a particular member of this Board and I have completely different views regarding individual board members' roles and responsibilities and mine in serving this District."

"For months, and in good faith I have tried to bridge that gulf through conversations with the board and with concessions I have been willing to make, but to no avail. I regret that our differing views of who should administer the District on a daily basis are now irreconcilable," he wrote.

That board member remains unidentified.

More: OKCPS superintendent Sean McDaniel unexpectedly resigns after nearly 6 years in post

Using the Oklahoma Open Records Act, The Oklahoman requested copies of all communication between McDaniel and Paula Lewis, the elected school board chair, from March 1, 2023, through Feb. 26, 2024, when McDaniel submitted a letter of resignation to members of the eight-person board. The school district provided email communication but didn’t include copies of any text messages, instant messages or voicemail, which also fall under the open-records law and were requested.

Neither McDaniel, Lewis nor any other member of the board has spoken to reporters since McDaniel’s resignation, with the only communication about the subject coming from the district communications office in the form of prepared statements from either Lewis or McDaniel.

McDaniel politely declined comment after a divided board, by a 5-3 vote, accepted his resignation during a special meeting on Feb. 29. After that meeting, Lewis and most board members exited the building where the meeting took place via a back entrance, avoiding reporters. Lewis wasn’t present for a regular board meeting on Monday, with Vice Chair Lori Bowman telling the audience Lewis was in Texas for a family wedding.

McDaniel said in his resignation letter he’d serve until June 30. The board already has hired the Oklahoma State School Boards Association to assist in conducting a search for his successor.

Emails tell a story of growing disconnect between McDaniel, board leadership

Most of the 176 emails provided to The Oklahoman included routine communication that might be expected between a superintendent and a board member — concerns from constituents, what items should be placed on a meeting agenda, travel arrangements for conferences and the like.

But a handful also indicated some level of disconnect between McDaniel and both Lewis and Bowman. On April 11, when McDaniel emailed Lewis and Bowman concerning a board vote that McDaniel felt took away his “ability to execute property contracts regarding the Belle Isle High School project.”

He asked for clarification about the district administration’s role in the process to “select the appropriate property as well as set the limitations on the negotiated price, be the decision-maker regarding counters, and make a final recommendation on the purchase/sale, etc.” McDaniel wanted to know if the board would handle those areas going forward.

“You all have the role 100%!” Bowman responded. “I think the board's role is to determine the vision for (Belle Isle) and provide the community perspective (which I believe includes location), but you and your team of experts handle everything related to the negotiation, contract, etc.”

She also noted issues during the meeting stemmed from “the presentation of the information, and I told Scott (Randall, the district’s chief operations officer) as much in conversation following the meeting. Also, I think several of us were taken aback because we didn't realize that we would be making such a big decision” such as the location of the school.

McDaniel’s most recent performance review, conducted last May, also created another point of discontent. McDaniel told Lewis in a May 17 email that concerns she’d brought him “about my communication with the Board” had “caught me a little bit off guard as I thought the meeting was to address other issues.”

He acknowledged the way he sees himself might be different from how others see him but added, “I have believed that I have communicated well with Board members so to understand that all of them (with the noted exceptions of Juan (Lecona) and Cary (Pirrong)) feel not seen, not heard, and not valued is upsetting."

"Not a single board member, besides you, has once told me that they don't feel seen, heard, or valued. I need to know why that is,” he wrote.

McDaniel requested an immediate special meeting to address his concerns. There was no return email noting a response from Lewis to McDaniel’s request.

An email addressed by Lewis to “Dr. McDaniel” instead of “Sean” on Nov. 1 asked for clarification on McDaniel’s thoughts regarding board meetings and communication from individual board members besides Lewis and Bowman. McDaniel answered that “my comments on full board communication were primarily about my opinion that the full board should have conversations about important things.”

But four days later, in a weekly update sent to board members, McDaniel said, “Thank you for approving my contract.” On Oct. 23, the board gave McDaniel a contract extension and a raise.

District's policy concerning handling of charter schools a major source of disagreement

Debates over charter schools — how the district works with the ones it sponsors, and whether it should sponsor others — occurred often beginning in October. On Oct. 2, McDaniel sent a lengthy email to Lewis and Bowman “to provide you with some context and some detail about what has been going with charter schools from my perspective and how we can move forward.”

McDaniel said direct communications between board members and charter school representatives was causing the district administrators issues.

“One of the challenges of problem-solving at the Board level — in this instance meaning amongst and between board members from OKCPS and our charter school board members — is that on occasion it creates confusion,” McDaniel wrote. “It particularly creates confusion for OKCPS staff members assigned to conduct business with staff members from charter schools. Negotiations are conducted, decisions are made and communicated, and we make progress throughout the year. We have been having meaningful discussions about leases for some time with our charter school leaders. We have been actively listening to them and we have provided relief and support based upon their input. Generally, we have had meaningful discussions with charter school leaders about becoming better partners and sponsors.”

Some charter schools wanted the OKC district to replace aging heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in buildings they were leasing, which McDaniel had said wasn’t included in their lease agreements. On Oct. 18, Bowman emailed McDaniel with three specific questions, including the potential cost of replacing HVAC units for four charter schools located in district buildings. To that question, McDaniel responded, “I will work on getting the information requested. May I ask why you would need this information?”

To another question about how to deal with the issue going forward, McDaniel replied, “This is a very complicated set of questions. We arrived at our current reality only after years of working on this. We are in a very good place right now and have a reasonably positive working relationship with charters that we sponsor. We have been able to provide them with the best deal around, hands down. The issues we have are with two individuals; not with our sponsored charter schools. To undo everything that we have done to get us to a good place because we have two people who are extremely high maintenance doesn't make any sense at all to me. I believe I have made my position clear regarding HVAC's and leases in general. “

Bowman also said the board “would really like to start the conversation about the district's vision when it comes to charters. It seems like the right time given that we have several applications coming up and likely more on the way. It seems like small group meetings might be ideal to allow for questions.”

McDaniel said his staff continually “are working on our relationships, our processes, and the strategies we employ with charters based directly on the guidance the Board has provided. We have been having this conversation in pockets for a long time. If the Board, as a whole Board, wants to reframe the philosophy or change directions, I would appreciate knowing that from the Board and welcome the conversation."

"I apologize when I come across as frustrated either in person, on the phone or in an email," he wrote. "We spend so much time on 2,500 kids who do not belong to us. Time that could be spent on the 33,000.”

About 33,000 children attend school in the OKC district, with about 2,500 attending charter schools sponsored by the district. Charter schools are considered their own district.

McDaniel, Lewis both expressed concerns about lack of alignment between superintendent, board

McDaniel, in a Nov. 21 email, recommended the board deny all four sponsorship applications from new charter schools. But six days later, the board approved one of the applications by a 6-2 vote, with Lewis saying, “I think that this charter school will exist. I’d rather be a partner than an adversary moving forward.”

The three charter schools that had had their applications rejected in November reapplied for consideration, and a board meeting was set for Jan. 8. On Dec. 29, McDaniel sent an email to Lewis and Bowman.

“I believe it is critical that the Board and the Superintendent appear to be working well together and that the meeting runs efficiently and smoothly, regardless of the outcome of any votes taken,” that email said. “While I always believe it is best for any Board to support a superintendent's recommendation of this magnitude in public, I appreciate that Board members own their votes and have the undisputed right to vote however they choose. Consequently, I can live with nearly any voting outcome. What is most important is that the public perceives that the Board/Superintendent relationship is solid, even despite differences of opinion at the horseshoe.”

Lewis responded, saying she understood “the concept” about which McDaniel had asked, and added, “this board and previous boards have worked hard to create a working relationship with the superintendent. I believe that Lori and I spent a considerable amount of time discussing the board not wanting to be adversarial with Charter's, specifically the issue with HVAC's and our charters.”

Saying, “it has been a year of hard topics and no great answers,” Lewis had noted a lack of alignment between McDaniel and the board regarding oversight of the $955 million bond passed by voters in 2022, as well as the future of the historic Capitol Hill High School building, which she said “was and is still an unalignment between the board and the Superintendent.” The Oklahoman asked multiple times for an interview with McDaniel for a story about the Capitol Hill situation, but instead was offered an interview with Lewis.

“It is my belief that the board wants to be in alignment with you. It is also my belief that this board will not value alignment over their responsibility to their communities,” Lewis wrote.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Emails shine light on disagreements between OKCPS, Sean McDaniel