Oklahoma education department suspends 9 teachers, critics say there’s more to be done

State Superintendent Ryan Walters, right, flanked by Oklahoma State Department of Education general counsel Michael Beason, speaks at an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday in Oklahoma City. The board suspended the certifications of nine educators and advanced revocation proceedings against nine more. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — A principal charged with inappropriately touching middle school boys. A teacher accused of sending sexual images to a student. Another charged with possessing child pornography.

These stories and more make up a list of nine educators whose teaching certifications the Oklahoma State Board of Education suspended on Thursday. The board advanced revocation proceedings against nine others, most with similar allegations.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said his administration is moving quickly to address these cases.

The state board has suspended or initiated revocation proceedings for about 35 educators since January, but critics say the Oklahoma State Department of Education still has been too slow to act.

Walters said the state board could vote on more suspensions and revocations in the coming months.

“If we find evidence of sexual misconduct by a teacher and we find teachers breaking that teacher code of conduct, we’re not going to wait on a conviction,” he said after Thursday’s board meeting. “We are absolutely going to move at that point in time.”

New rules from the state Education Department, which the state Legislature is reviewing, would allow schools to fire teachers accused of sexual misconduct and could punish districts that continue to employ educators under investigation if they ultimately are convicted or have their certifications revoked.

But, Walters’ administration has faced scrutiny for not taking quicker action against educators and coaches facing abuse allegations. Meanwhile, he has pursued a revocation case against former Norman High School teacher Summer Boismier, whom he criticized for having liberal political views. 

The state Board of Education again rescheduled a vote to June 27 on whether to revoke Boismier’s teaching license. The former English teacher posted a link in her classroom to an online catalog of banned books. 

Boismier is distinct from others on the state board’s agenda, having never been suspended, fired or criminally prosecuted.

Educators whose certifications were suspended on Thursday include Stephen Gainor, who was fired from Oklahoma City Public Schools after reportedly putting an 11-year-old student in an improper hold, and Tyler Patrick McGrew, a Sapulpa teacher whom court records show was charged with distributing fentanyl. 

Donald Holt, a former Stigler High School teacher, was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. Former Lexington High School teacher Vernon Tyler Thetford also faces criminal charges after being accused of sending sexual images of himself to a student.

Their certifications are now suspended, pending a revocation hearing.

Wewoka Middle School Principal Cody Barlow had his teaching license intact for more than a year after he was charged with two felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 and four counts of lewd or indecent proposals to a minor.

The state board suspended his certification on Thursday and laid the groundwork for a hearing to potentially revoke his license permanently.

Barlow has denied wrongdoing. The charges are still pending in Seminole County District Court. 

This month, Wewoka Public Schools agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle a lawsuit from four boys who said Barlow abused them.

Cameron Spradling, an attorney who represented the four students, said the affected families have had to wait far too long for the state Education Department to act against Barlow’s teaching certification.

“They feel like they have been abandoned for 18 months,” Spradling said.

Spradling said he’s still waiting for Walters to take similar measures against Ringling High School principal and football coach Phil Koons and others in the southern Oklahoma district. Nine current or former football players have sued the coach, the school district and other members of the Koons family, alleging they suffered bullying, harassment and abuse.

Koons is bound for trial for a charge of outraging public decency, stemming from his alleged treatment of players.

But, “nothing’s happened” with his license to work in public schools, said Spradling, who is representing the plaintiffs in the civil case.

“What is (Walters’) definition of when he’s going to go after somebody?” Spradling said. “When I’ve already won the case? When the person is getting ready to go to jail? When does he touch it?” 

Walters said the state Education Department is hiring more investigators to look into complaints reported to the agency. He said reports and evidence of different issues are “going through the roof.”

“We want information; please send it to us,” Walters said. “If not, we are going to have to wait on charges, on things to be brought forth by local law enforcement. But if you have evidence and you can send it to us, we can move and suspend certificates and start that process.”

While holding a sign outside Thursday’s meeting with pictures of educators accused of sexual misconduct, Sheena Martin, of Stratford, said she’s tired of reading the same story time and again: a student abused by a teacher, a school ignoring red flags and a predator allowed to take a teaching job somewhere else. 

Martin said she suffered abuse by her private music teacher, who was never fired nor charged with a crime. 

She was critical of the state Education Department for attacking Boismier while other cases have been unaddressed.

“The fact that we can so viciously pursue an educator for literally doing their job but we can’t go after a child molester?” Martin said. “I don’t care what your political views are. That’s not acceptable.”

A judge who presided over Boismier’s revocation hearing last June found the state Department of Education failed to prove she deserved to have her certification taken away.

Walters said he would encourage the state Board of Education to revoke her license anyway. He accused her of having a “liberal political agenda” and of sharing pornography because some of the books, among the thousands of titles in the catalog, had sexual content.

Boismier, who no longer lives or works in Oklahoma, said she never recommended any specific banned book. She has sued Walters in Oklahoma City federal court for defamation, slander, libel and false representation.

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