OSDE approves charter school requests in March board meeting

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The March Oklahoma State Department of Education board meeting had locked doors tied with electrical cords the night before and ended with the approval of some charter school requests.

“There was no reason to do it because it didn’t dissuade any of us from coming here,” said Vice Mayor of The Village Sean Cummings.

Cummings was one of many who stayed out seemingly overnight at the doors of the Education Department’s building. At one point, a person was seen tying what looked like an electrical cord around the bars of the front door.

A Department of Public Safety spokesperson confirmed with KFOR that the security officer needed to secure the building and that the very front set of doors didn’t lock.

Dan Isett with OSDE told KFOR that it wasn’t an OSDE staff member who tied the cord to the doors, but an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper.

Thursday’s meeting kicked off with Superintendent Ryan Walter addressing the recent death of Owasso High School student Nex Benedict.

The preliminary autopsy stated the cause of death was suicide. The complete report goes into more detail about how the coroner came to this conclusion. The detailed report shows Benedict had diphenhydramine, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, and trace amounts of dextromethorphan, and norchlorcyclizine in their system.

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Since their death, dozens of groups have addressed and rallied for support for the mental health of students and children.

On Thursday, Walters addressed Bendict’s death and relayed the tragedy behind it, showing support and prayers for family, friends, and community. Directly after, he pointed blame to what he called “fake news media.”

“A large group of activists who were aided by the fake news media who made outrageous and unfounded claims on the situation,” said Superintendent Walters.

The meeting approved several charter schools’ requests to be exempt from exceptions to testing requirements due to a “lack of required certified staff to administer testing.”

Those schools include KIPP of Tulsa and OKC, Tulsa Classical Academy and Tulsa Legacy Charter.

“I know 33 other states do it but I don’t know why they do it,” said Superintendent Walters. “I’m sure it’s professional to have someone who is state-certified to overlook testing but our para-professionals do it every day”

He addressed the revocation hearing of Summer Boismier, a former Norman teacher who was accused of being too liberal for Oklahoma schools. The board agreed to push her hearing to late May.

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A major part of the meeting was Tulsa Public Schools’ monthly improvement plan. Walters and many of the board members complimented the amount of effort and improvement the school had made.

The district outlined its efforts to improve the district’s test scores and achieve the State Department of Education’s goals for the district.

The Oklahoma Teacher Empowerment program is one of the district’s essential initiatives to support its students.

“It’s incredible what they’ve done,” said Walters.

Walters also announced the creation of the Oklahoma State Department of Education Office of School Choice.

“It’s a one-stop shop for everything related to school choice in Oklahoma,” said Walters.

School choice programs allow parents to move their children into the type of schooling they might feel meets their child’s needs.

He stated that he would be or has hired new staff to be put in the office but didn’t specify who exactly. Walters also said he would be moving staff from elsewhere into the role.

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