Students in Metro Technology Center’s Multimedia Journalism Program fact-checked the claims of Oklahoma City Public Schools’ chairperson candidates Paula Lewis, Jan Barrick and Niah Spriggs after their Jan. 28 debate co-hosted by NonDoc and News 9.
Lewis, the incumbent chairwoman, is seeking her third term in the district-wide elected position she has held since 2017. Barrick is the former CEO of Alpha Plus Education Systems, while Spriggs is a former Oklahoma City educator.
Voters will decide among the three candidates Tuesday, Feb. 11. A runoff election will be held April 1 between the two leading candidates if none receives a majority of the vote.
Public data, interviews and other reporting were used to examine the candidates’ debate claims. The candidates’ claims are judged below on a scale of true, mostly true, mixed, mostly false and false.
Claim: OKCPS has not increased in “F” grade schools or enrollment since the pandemic.
Paula Lewis said: “Contrary to what my opponents are saying right now, we are moving the needle. (…) We have not increased in ‘F’ schools, and we have not decreased in enrollment since the pandemic. We’ve actually increased. So, yes, parents have a choice. We want them to have a choice, but we want them to choose us first.”
Fact check: Mostly true.
According to the Oklahoma State Report Card, OKCPS had eight schools receive “F” grades for the 2023-2024 school year. The district previously had 10 in 2022-2023. Reports from The Oklahoman show OKCPS has cut its “F” schools by two-thirds since 2018, the year before OKCPS closed 15 total schools as part of its Pathway to Greatness reforms. (Three of the 15 schools closed had received “F” grades.)
However, as Barrick noted during the debate, these improvements came after a bell-curve grading system was implemented via the Every Student Succeeds Act in July 2018.
Per the National Center for Education Statistics, OKCPS enrolled 32,899 students in the 2023-2024 school year, which is higher than its previous post-pandemic totals. However, OKCPS had 37,344 students in 2020, a total the district has yet to match since.
— Jaylan Farmer
Claim: Proficiency rates and ACT scores are decreasing for OKCPS district students.
Jan Barrick said: “Student proficiency rates have gone down. ACT scores have gone down. Oklahoma City has a problem.”
Fact Check: Mixed.
Although Oklahoma City Public Schools proficiency rates are well below statewide levels, district year-to-year trends have generally followed statewide trends.
Statewide, Oklahoma students’ proficiency rate scores have improved, according to the State Report Card. However, this is largely due to the fact the state reduced the performance level needed for students to achieve proficient scores in spring 2024.
Using the new grading system, 45 percent of all Oklahoma students made a proficient score in English, and 41 percent did so in math in the 2023-2024 school year.
OKCPS proficiency scores are well below statewide averages. On the State Report Card, 27 percent of OKCPS students scored proficient in English, and 22 percent did so in math. OKCPS’ English scores have stayed relatively flat since 2019 but increased slightly in 2024 from 2023. In math, OKCPS’ scores fell in 2019 but have stayed flat since then.
As for the ACT, Oklahoma City Public Schools’ scores are not readily available. The State Department of Education said it does not release district ACT scores, and a records request with OKCPS officials seeking the scores did not receive a response prior to the publication of this article.
At the state level, Oklahoma’s Class of 2024 scored an average of 17.6, according to the ACT’s Grad Class Database. The state’s average has declined since Oklahoma began requiring all students to take a college readiness exam in 2017, when students averaged 19.4.
— Emily Lavarn, Aileen Rangel, Alex Wilson and Jocelynn Zambrano
Claim: Fort Bend ISD test scores rank near the bottom of schools in Texas, but out perform those of Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School in Oklahoma City.
Niah Spriggs said: “I want to talk to you about a place that I’ve actually worked at. (…) So last year at this school, they had 43 percent in reading, and they actually had a 22 percent in math. That is not their actual standard, but I want to tell you what that is in comparison to what we have at one of our best schools. This is a school in Houston, and this is one of their worst schools. Our schools here in Oklahoma City, one of our better schools, Belle Isle, had a 46 percent in math and a 60 percent in reading.”
Fact check: Mixed.
Spriggs’ LinkedIn profile lists Fort Bend ISD as the only Houston-area school district she has worked in. According to a report from Houston Landing, Fort Bend ISD’s math scores were 50 percent in 2023 and 47 percent in 2024. In reading, the school garnered 61 percent in both 2023 and 2024. These outcomes rank Fort Bend toward the middle-of-the-pack when compared to the other large school districts in the Houston area.
Though Fort Bend ISD is far from the bottom of schools in the Houston area, their scores still outperform that of Bell Isle, which tallied a 20 percent in math and 45 percent in reading in 2023.
— Krystina Hoefer
Claim: OKCPS had more than 20 superintendents over a 22-year period.
Niah Spriggs said: “We need to put a plan together. At one point, we had 20 superintendents over 22 years. (…) And while I understand that I will not be the superintendent, we need to sit down and bring the greatest minds of OKC (together).”
Fact check: False.
Since 1985, OKCPS has had 18 superintendents, which includes four interim and two acting in the position.
Before Jamie Polk began her tenure as district superintendent in July 2024, Sean McDaniel held the position from July 2018 to June 2024. McDaniel’s six-year tenure doubles that of the nation’s average for such a position, according to Education Week, which Lewis mentioned during the debate.
— Jayden Decoteau, Jose Linares and Dymear Wells.
Claim: Metro Tech students cannot play sports or be in other extracurricular activities at their sending school while attending the technology center.
Paula Lewis said: “We have the partnership already with Metro Tech, but if our kids come to Metro Tech, they don’t get back (to their sending school) to be able to participate in extracurricular activities. They can’t play football or basketball or baseball, all the things that we know keep children in school and increase their times of not being absent.”
Fact check: False.
Metro Tech students can participate in their sending school’s extracurricular activities if their schedules allow it. There is no rule prohibiting Metro Tech students from doing so.
“(Our) students generally have sports in their afternoon classes and their afternoon hours,” Metro Tech counselor Holly Dozhier said. “So if our students play sports, they can come in the morning block and then participate in sports at their home school in the afternoon.”
Dozhier said students who participate in extracurriculars at their sending schools receive excused absences in the event an activity prevents them from attending during their normal school hours. Throughout her time at Metro Tech, Dozhier said she has not encountered instances where students had to drop out owing to sports conflicts.
“We try to preempt some of (those issues) to make sure as many students as possible can continue their sports,” Dozhier said. “We encourage you to participate in your home-school activities.”
— Giselle Castillo and CuTerra Love.
Claim: While at Alpha Plus Educational Systems, Barrick helped four schools achieve National Blue Ribbon Status and improved more than 200 proficiency-wise. When Lewis asked if Barrick still had equity in APES, Barrick said she did not.
Jan Barrick said: “Over the past 30 years, I have taken over 200 schools in the state, the lowest performing schools in the state, and I have improved them, and I’ve ended up with four National Blue Ribbon Schools. (…) I have no equity in (APES).”
Fact check: Mostly True.
APES officials confirmed four schools under Barrack’s leadership achieved National Blue Ribbon status. Bishop Elementary in Lawton achieved the honor in 2011, followed by Central High Elementary in Central High in 2013, Carnegie Elementary in Carnegie in 2015 and Flower Mound Elementary in Lawton in 2015.
APES does not have complete records of Barrick’s tenure, officials said, so they could not confirm nor deny that the business helped improve more than 200 schools during her stint as CEO.
Bennie Newton, the executive vice president of APES, confirmed Barrick no longer holds equity in the company, stating the “ownership is completely new and neither Jan nor any affiliate of hers is involved any more with APES financially or otherwise.”
— Jules Williams
