Days after apologizing for a late-night Facebook rant, Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Aurora Lora has announced her resignation.
The district sent an email just after 1 p.m.
OKCPS Board Chairwoman Paula Lewis released a statement:
This morning, OKCPS Superintendent Aurora Lora submitted her resignation to the OKCPS Board of Education. A timeline as to when her resignation will take effect is still pending. The OKCPS Board of Education will convene this evening for the previously scheduled Special Meeting at 6:15pm.
As is typical, during the Superintendent’s absence, Chief of Staff Rebecca Kaye will serve as the primary point of contact for District leadership matters.
OKCPS will share additional details as they become available. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Lora’s annual performance review was scheduled to conclude this evening at a special OKCPS board meeting.
OKCPS communications director Beth Harrison told NonDoc this morning that rumors Lora had been suspended were untrue. Harrison said she was simply using a combination of vacation time and professional development.
“She’s away from the office for a combination of personal vacation and professional leave, but we expect her back in the office on Monday,” Harrison said around 10 a.m. “There’s been quite a few rumors that she’s been on administrative leave, but she’s not.”
Three hours later, Lora’s impending resignation was announced. She was appointed superintendent after Rob Neu resigned in April 2016.
Lora had apologized for her Wednesday Facebook rant, saying her comments were inappropriate. Her remarks also came on Facebook, as first reported by Tim Willert of NewsOK.com.
“It was not the appropriate time or place, and it’s completely unfair to my team and to the members of our board who work so tirelessly alongside me day after day,” Lora wrote. “We are all in this together, and it’s my responsibility as a leader to stay focused on what unites us, not what drives us apart.”
Read Aurora Lora’s letter of resignation
https://nondoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Aurora-Lora.Resignation-letter-2018.FINAL_.pdf” height=”450px” download=”all”](Update: This post was updated at 1:30 p.m. to clarify that Lora’s resignation date has not been set and to add her letter to OKCPS officials.)