Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters clashed with members of the State Board of Education over new social studies standards during a marathon meeting Thursday that saw members question Walters on everything from routine approval of previous meetings’ minutes to legal matters relating to accreditation standards and mobile panic systems.
The six-hour meeting began with a tense discussion over social studies standards approved by the board in February. Shortly after the standards were approved, NonDoc reporting revealed quiet changes to the final version of the standards that ask students to “identify discrepancies in the 2020 election results,” among other things. The changes to the final version of the standards were not discussed by the board and were apparently unknown to at least the three newest board members, who were appointed Feb. 11.
In his comments to the board at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting, Walters accused board members of creating a “fake controversy” about the standards.
“I can’t make you read,” Walters said. “I can’t make you do the research before you vote. But here’s what I’m going to say, and my expectation is to not have board members lie about our process.”
Walters’ comments prompted a swift interruption from new board member Ryan Deatherage, who had asked Walters for more time to review the standards in February.
“I was not given the time to go through those standards in that board meeting,” Deatherage said. “I’m not a speed reader by any means. I tried to present that case that day, and I respect the board’s decision. That was the decision they made to go forward, and that’s what they did, but for me personally, that was still something I would have liked to have had more time on, considering we were new members to that.”
Fellow new board member Michael Tinney quickly followed up Deatherage’s comment with his own recounting of how he dealt with the standards vote. Tinney said that in preparation to be appointed to the board, he downloaded the standards from the State Department of Education’s website to study before the February meeting. By the time he voted in favor of the standards, he did not know they had been changed.
“But what was on the posting and what I was studying beforehand had been changed, and that was without my knowledge,” Tinney said. “The way I read the law, I understand that they can be put out for public comment as they were. We didn’t see those comments, and after comment, they can be changed. However, it’s the board that changes them. The board was not — to my knowledge — notified of those changes.”
Walters said the new members were placed on the board at the end of a “10-month process” to update the social studies standards and said the standards had to be approved in the February meeting to give the Legislature time to review them.
State statute, however, requires that the standards be delivered to the Legislature at least 30 days prior to the end of the legislative session at the end of May. After the standards are sent to the Legislature, the body has 30 legislative days to approve, disapprove or take no action on the standards. As things stand, if lawmakers take no action Monday, the standards will be considered approved.
Deatherage said he felt Walters had been deceptive in his depiction of the urgency of approving the standards in February.
“Seems like to me now the time of urgency was not the case that was presented to us,” Deatherage said. “So I kind of feel like I was deceived in that.”
Asked after the meeting why Walters did not at least notify board members of what changed between the initial version of the standards and the final version, Walters declined to give a reason besides saying he made it clear to board members that the version of the standards given to them less than 24 hours before the meeting was the updated and final version.
“I don’t control when Gov. (Kevin) Stitt put these board members on here. That’s what he chose to do,” Walters said. “It was at the very end of the process.”
Meanwhile Thursday, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) told media members he was concerned about the governor’s remarks Wednesday about board members not knowing what they were being asked to consider.
“It is still under consideration. That’s the new twist to this,” Paxton said. “The issue before that we’ve talked about before were the standards themselves. Now the issue the governor has brought up is the process. Was the process not followed the way it should have been followed — the spirit that the way that transparency should be [handled]? We’re looking at it again. Of course, time is of the essence.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) said he was reviewing the standards emailed to the board members and said he thinks they were the same as what were voted on. However, Hilbert said he was unaware that the revised standards were not publicly posted for review. Paxton, meanwhile, said the timestamps on the emails to board members show that they did not have enough time to review the 400 pages of documentation.
Walters: ‘We followed the process’
Thursday’s heated discussion marked the board’s first since the standards’ approval because its March meeting was cancelled at the last minute owing to questions about the timeliness of the agenda being posted. As a result, Thursday’s meeting included two months’ worth of agenda items. At every turn, board members concerned about Walters’ handling of the standards questioned State Department of Education officials about items they were about to vote on.
The changes to the social studies standard caught the eye of Stitt and other legislators amid the 2025 regular legislative session. On March 31, Walters gave a presentation at the request of the House GOP Caucus to further discuss the social studies standards.
“We followed the process, went through the process,” Walters told NonDoc after the meeting. “We’re very excited about the standards, and look, we appreciate the speaker and the House (Republican) Caucus for having us in today.”
The day before Thursday’s board meeting, Oklahoma’s Democratic leaders held an April 23 press conference urging republican lawmakers to take action against Walters’ social studies standards.
“It has become increasingly clear that the political pressure the state superintendent placed on legislative leaders has become more powerful than the voices of our constituents,” said House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, who recently filed for a gubernatorial campaign. “And so were here today to, again, make a call and ask our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to listen to teachers, listen to our parents when they say they want improvement in public education and not pandering to partisan politics.”
Walters took to X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday to admonish the state’s Democratic legislators for what he called an attempt to “attack Oklahoma’s pro-America social studies standards.”
“These are the same politicians who’ve fought against parents’ rights, opposed classroom transparency, and pushed radical ideologies into our schools,” Walters wrote in an April 23 post. “Let’s be clear: any vote against these standards is a vote against Oklahoma parents and kids. And Oklahomans won’t be taking curriculum advice from the same crowd that thinks boys can be girls and despises President Trump’s America First agenda.”
Tinney: ‘We are’ telling the truth
After the standards discussion, board members had another lengthy discussion about approving the minutes from the board’s January and February meetings. In particular, board members wanted their objections to the short period of time in which they were given to review the standards noted.
“So just to be clear, you want the minutes to reflect a commentary of your inner dialog on that day?” Walters asked.
Tinney clarified his position.
“No, the minutes are to reflect what happened, and what happened at the meeting is several board members voted on something they did not know had been changed from the public comments. And that is fact. You can say we’re not telling the truth, but we are.”
At the end of the meeting, board members held a lengthy executive session to discuss multiple teacher certificates. When they came out of executive session, they suspended the teacher certificates and referred applications to revoke the certificates to a hearing officer for eight teachers:
- Patrick Cobb, a former emergency certified turned alternatively certified teacher and coach at Tecumseh High school;
- Jason Dowdy; a former Stroud Public Schools teacher and coach;
- Tyler Frizzell, an agricultural instructor at Tupelo Public Schools;
- Ashley Fairres, a former early childhood and special education teacher at Wilson Elementary School who was fired following a six-hour-long special Miami Public Schools board meeting, according to a Feb. 5 Facebook post. The post alleges Fairres was terminated following allegations of abuse “at least five 4-6 year old nonverbal special needs students.” Although no filing are listed on the Oklahoma courts docket search, the post also alleged Fairres filed a writ of mandamus against the school, the district and three board members;
- Wesley Parsons, a special education teacher for Crooked Oak Public Schools;
- Donavan Goodno, a history teacher and coach at Henryetta High school;
- Kierra Smith, a former Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher who was arrested Nov. 26 on a allegation of aggravated assault and battery and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail after a 13-year-old student was injured during some sort of wrestling, “horseplay” activity in a classroom; and
- Kaytlin Fultz, is a former Preston Public Schools teacher who, along with her husband Andrew Fultz, was charged with one count of child neglect for leaving her foster child outside in freezing temperatures as punishment. Fultz pleaded not guilty in Muscogee Nation District Court March 24.
Board members also denied applications to suspend the certificates but still referred applications to revoke the certificates of two teachers:
- Patrick McKenzie, the founding executive director of Patrick L McKenzie Ministries, Inc. — a “non-profit organization dedicated to providing fresh nutritious meals prepared daily for at-risk students starting with ages 6 to 18,” according to McKenzie’s Facebook account. In 2021, OSDE filed a contract, debt collection lawsuit against McKenzie Ministries, according to UniCourt records; and
- Joshua Foos, an advanced mathematics and U.S. history/government teacher at Enid High School.
The board also accepted the voluntary surrender of the following teacher’s certifications:
- Ronnie Davis;
- Terah Wright, a Haworth Public Schools teacher who is currently on administrative leave after she was charged in McCurtain County District Court with three counts of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor and one count involving possession of child pornography. Wright is alleged to have had relationships with at least four Haworth students ranging from ages 14 to 18, according to a KTAL News report.
- Kevin Eddings, “a 6th-grade science teacher at Independence Intermediate in Yukon, who is under investigation for attempting to engage in inappropriate online conversations with a 15-year-old boy,” according to a Feb. 18 OSDE press release. There have been no updates on the findings of the investigation, as of the publication of this article;
- Jason Ward, former Madill High School principal Jason Ward, who is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student while teaching at Dickson Public Schools from 2014 to 2017. On March 17, the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations filed a notice for an investigation against Ward following the original citizen’s complaint made to OSDE that prompted the initial investigation within the state department;
- Darious Thompson;
- Clifton Harris, a former Okmulgee Public Schools teacher who received his emergency teaching certification from SBE in October 2024; and
- Andrew Funderburk, a former English teacher for Tulsa Public Schools.
Board members also summarily suspended the teacher certification of Anthony Deason, a former Oklahoma physical education teacher who was indicted in March 2024 in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma for attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
The board made a motion to withdraw the application to revoke the teaching certification of former Poteau High School football coach Greg Werner.
Werner is facing allegations of making “sexual deals with player moms,” according to The Oklahoman. The districted voted to accept Werners resignation November 2024, only one month prior to OSDE requesting the district provide all employment, disciplinary and communication records on Werner.
Board members also revoked the certificates of three teachers:
- Kimberly Coates, a former third-grade teacher at Perkins Elementary School who was arrested in August 2023 for public intoxication while on the job and again in November 2023 after appearing intoxicated at her public intoxication hearing in the Payne County Courthouse, according to KOKH;
- Tyler Patrick McGrew, a former teacher and coach at Supulpa Public Schools who was charged with illegal drug trafficking after he was found leaving the high school campus with a white powder substance later identified as cocaine and counterfeit prescription pills in November 2024;
- Travis Sloat, a former Okay High School teacher who pleaded not guilty in February to a lewd molestation charge after he was accused of recording his daughter’s friend in the bathroom. Seemingly, Sloat’s case has been resolved as the case documents no longer appear on OSCN.
Board members continued a vote on the teacher certificate of Roger Jessie, a Waurika High School coach and teacher who was put on administrative leave after one of his psychology class assignments went viral — even garnering the attention of Walters on both Facebook and X — for it’s alleged controversial and “inappropriate” content.
Additionally, board members continued a vote on the teacher certificate of former Ringling Public Schools principal and coach Phil Koons, who is currently awaiting a potential September 2025 jury trial according to Jefferson County District Court Judge Dennis Gay.
Koons appeared in court March 12, 2024, to withdraw his initial no contest plea and subsequently request for his case to be determined by a jury. Koons was charged Oct. 17 after an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation inquiry into alleged verbal harassment of his players. Former players said Koons regularly belittled them with profane language and sometimes called them slurs.
Board members voted to grant a joint motion to dismiss a case against Timothy Van Etten.
In September 2021, board members voted to suspend Van Etten’s certificate following a district investigation into the former high school soccer coach and teacher at Muskogee Public Schools. The school district told the website MuskogeeNOW that Van Etten had been suspended pending an investigation into claims that he made inappropriate statements toward female students.
The board also took action to set a due process hearing for Lowell Price, a U.S. history, government and economics teacher whose teacher certification expired June 2024.
