As school returns for the spring semester, concerns that administrators punted to the new year are coming back around. Some have reached apparent resolutions, while others hit checkpoints.
Heading into the break, a dual language charter school’s consideration of a partnership caused angst in its community, and the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education paused appointments to a bond oversight committee after community members expressed concerns about an appointee’s ties to the district. In the new year, a different OKC-based charter school was notified of the intent to terminate its authorization, and a forensic investigation into the state’s largest charter school revealed the financial fiasco that upended educators in the summer of 2025. Along the way, Edmond Public Schools reversed course on an audit request.
The legal and legislative realms have been active, too. On New Year’s Day, the long-awaited trial for a former Kingfisher County football coach was continued. A federal court dismissed Oklahoma’s lawsuit against a vendor that had become yet another battleground between the state’s governor and attorney general. In the Legislature, bills on a previously controversial education policy have been introduced.
As the year kicks off, the following roundup will help you catch up on education news you may have missed over the holidays. With the 2026 regular session approaching, make sure you are subscribed to NonDoc’s Monday Minute newsletter and our direct-text program for education and legislative headlines.
Report sheds light on Epic chaos
Released Jan. 12, an independent forensic investigation into the state’s largest charter school — and third-largest school system — has outlined the actions that led to financial strains.
Poor enrollment projections, curious calculations, aggressive expansion and a lack of oversight are linked to the school’s financial issues that spurred layoffs and resignations at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, according to the report.
Requested by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, the report suggests former Superintendent Bart Banfield pushed for staff and site expansions despite a lack of adequate analysis, while being “generally not present” during critical meetings. According to Ben Kincaid of Carr, Riggs and Ingram, which conducted the review, Banfield was not interviewed for the investigation. The report also said former assistant superintendent of finance Jeanise Wynn did not perform proper forecasting or budgeting for Fiscal Year 2025.
As the SCSB reviewed the findings during a meeting, Chairman Brian Shellem asked whether Wynn was “winging it” in her role as Epic’s chief financial officer. Kincaid said that could be a fair characterization.
“So, we have a CFO winging it and a superintendent who really was not as engaged as he should have been with responsibilities given by the board,” Shellem said.
Kincaid said the accuracy of the internal model Epic used to project an enrollment jump to 33,000 students was questionable and partially led to a “significant staffing increase.” The calculation that showed the school would have $60.4 million in carryover funds was “grossly overstated,” and there was insufficient documentation about how budget numbers were developed. The investigation flagged 15 concerns and recommended corrective actions, although the review did not find indicates that funds were misappropriated.
New Epic Superintendent Shaun Ross said the school is working to take corrective actions. At the time the report was released, it showed the school had resolved four concerns, was working to resolve eight others and had yet to address three. Two of the three previously unaddressed findings were on the agenda for consideration during the school’s Jan. 15 meeting, Ross said. He added that the audit provides the organization a “clear roadmap to rebuilding stronger.”
“Our ultimate goal is to be transparent in everything we do. That starts with me working with my board members,” Ross said Jan. 12.
A report by Oklahoma Watch’s Jennifer Palmer used school emails to shed light on how Epic leadership reacted to financial troubles that precipitated mass layoffs in June and prompted the forensic investigation. In a move the school called “streamlining measures,” 357 employees were laid off. The report also linked the mismanagement to Epic’s October 2024 layoffs. Days after the June layoffs, Banfield resigned. Wynn resigned in April. Days later, another member of the finance team cited the school’s financial stewardship in her resignation letter, according to Oklahoma Watch.
“I can no longer, in good conscience, support or be associated with financial decisions and practices that I believe compromise the integrity and stability of the organization,” Carrie Truver wrote.
Literacy-based retention bills introduced for 2026
Predicted to be a “big part of the conversation” during the Oklahoma Legislature’s 2026 regular session, proposals to renew a controversial reading policy are taking shape.
Lawmakers have filed at least six bills to amend the Strong Readers Act and reintroduce literacy-based retention, the process of having a student repeat a grade level to improve competency in a subject. The proposals include interventions aiming to make retention a last resort.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, who co-authored legislation fully repealing retention in 2024, joined Vice Chairwoman Ally Seifried (R-Claremore) at a Jan. 15 press conference outlining their proposals for this year’s session, which begins Feb. 2.
“The literacy discussion, I think, is going to be the focal point of both committees in the House and the Senate over the next four months,” said Pugh (R-Edmond).
Pugh described his SB 1778, which would require students in first through third grades with reading deficiencies to attend summer academies and ultimately re-establish a firm retention policy for third grade. The requirements would be stair-stepped into application, beginning with first-grade students in the 2027-2028 school year.
Districts would be required to place first and second grade students with reading deficiencies in summer academies. For students who fail to attend their assigned summer academy or who fail to show literacy improvement, districts would be required to:
- place them in a stand-alone, transitional class at the next grade level, or
- advance them to a typical grave-level classroom “while providing targeted transitional intervention instruction in pull-out sessions.”
Under Pugh’s bill, third-grade students subject to retention would be allowed to retake literacy tests up to two weeks prior to the next school year. Underscoring some educators’ and legislators’ hesitance for a strict mandate on retention, Pugh’s proposal would allow a third-grade student facing retention to be promoted with the written consent of a parent or guardian.
Pugh’s House counterpart, Rep. Dick Lowe (R-Amber), introduced several education bills Jan. 14. His suite of legislation includes HB 3023, which introduces retention for first, second and third grade students who fail to meet literacy benchmarks. First and second grade students would be subject to optional retention, based on the recommendation of a reading proficiency team. Students recommended for retention could secure promotion over the summer. Third-grade students failing to meet literacy standards would be subject to mandatory retention unless “unless at least five members of the student’s Reading Proficiency Team recommend the student move to fourth grade” and the student has an independent education plan, a medical exemption or an 80 percent improvement on grade-level work following a prior retention.
In November, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) predicted literacy and retention would become a big part of the 2026 session. Hours after Pugh’s press conference on Jan. 15, Hilbert added his own proposal to the conversation.
Similar to other measures filed, HB 4420 would amend the SRA to retain struggling readers in third grade, require that summer reading academies be offered to struggling readers and further promote intensive intervention, a throughline of the proposals. But Hilbert’s bill is longer and contains more requirements than those filed by Lowe and Pugh, including new reporting requirements for district accreditation and alternative reading sufficiency assessment options.
Compared to Pugh’s proposal that would allow any parent to opt their student out of third-grade reading retention, Hilbert’s proposal features stricter requirements and limited “good cause” exemptions for special education students, English language learners and students who have been retained twice before. The competing proposals from chamber leaders mean House and Senate negotiations on the topic could become tense like they have in the past.
“Advancing a child who cannot read is not compassionate, it is negligent,” Hilbert said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Sen. Micheal Bergstrom (R-Adair) and Rep. Rob Hall (R-Tulsa) were the first to announce legislation on reading retention this session with a pair of companion bills. SB 1271 and HB 2944 are similar to the other reading retention proposals and also require a “good cause” exemption to avoid mandatory retention, but they would add a process involving principal recommendations and superintendent reviews into the mix.
Rep. Toni Hasenbeck (R-Elgin) also filed a proposal for literacy-based retention, HB 4919. Beyond its proposals similar to others’ bills, HB 4919 would also create new law bringing back another old policy. The legislation would require new drivers to demonstrate a proficient reading level by passing an eighth grade reading test. That requirement was repealed in 2021. Pugh, who co-authored the legislation repealing the requirement, has filed SB 1538, which also seeks the policies’ return.
‘Time to pull the plug’: Statewide Charter School Board terminates PTPLA authorization
An embattled Oklahoma City charter school is set to lose its authorization at the end of the school year.
The Statewide Charter School Board approved a notice of termination for Proud to Partner Leadership Academy‘s authorization during its meeting Jan. 12. The notice comes after months of concerns led to the school’s probationary status, and subsequent documents provided by PTPLA, as well as visits by SCSB, have “raised more questions than they have answered,” according to Skyler Lusnia, SCSB director of school performance. The board voted 7-0 to issue the notice, with Jared Buswell and David Rutkauskas abstaining.
“It is time to pull the plug,” board member William Pearson said ahead of the vote.
Buswell said he wanted to give the school another month to progress, which Pearson advocated for at the board’s Dec. 8 meeting. Rutkauskas said his heart was telling him the same. But ultimately, the rest of the board ran out of patience after three months of official back and forth.
SCSB placed the school on probation during the board’s meeting Nov. 10. SCSB cited numerous deficiencies, including low teacher-to-student ratios, disconcerting finances and a lack of student engagement, as evidenced by students being unable to articulate what they were studying. PTPLA’s board has repeatedly pushed back. At their meeting Nov. 18, Chairperson Sharri Coleman said the school has done nothing wrong, and the board declined to submit a corrective action plan at the time. Five days later, at a special meeting, the board approved a corrective action plan.
After Thanksgiving, at the SCSB’s Dec. 8 meeting, Coleman took a defensive stance once again and compared the evidence against PTPLA to “spoiled Thanksgiving food.” Superintendent Dawn Boles gave a two-hour presentation that appeared to frustrate some SCSB members.
“I think this crisis is self-inflicted. Some of that has already been confirmed today,” board member Damon Gardenhire said. “When you are not willing to cooperate with your authorizer, how are we supposed to help you get better?”
Gardenhire, who said he was in the mood to close the school in December, made the motion to notify PTPLA of termination — with a caveat. While his original motion would have terminated the school’s authorization in April, a revision now enables PTPLA to operate through the end of the school year.
Bowles, PTPLA’s superintendent, expressed displeasure with the result of the meeting and said she expected to receive feedback on the school’s corrective action plan.
“We look forward to finishing out this year, and we look forward to continuing with our ambassadors, because that is not something that anyone else can define for us,” Bowles said.
OKCPS halts committee appointments amid community pressure
The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board abruptly postponed a process that would have made nine appointments to a bond oversight committee amid concerns from a board member and community advocates regarding one appointee.
District 5 Rep. Mike Shelton, whose constituency covers portions of northeast Oklahoma City and includes the City of Spencer, said the candidate initially selected to represent his district on the OKCPS Citizen Oversight Committee — Denise Figueroa Irizarry — lacked sufficient connection to the community she would have been serving. The committee is tasked with providing oversight, guidance and updates to the community and board on the district’s $955 million bond, which passed in 2022.
“Her only connection is working at the organization she does — I will not say it — which is questionable. I do not think it is District 5, it may be on the borderline,” Shelton said at the board’s Nov. 10 meeting. “A person from Western Heights, of course, does not vote on Oklahoma City school bonds. (…) Representation is key. Superintendent (Jamie) Polk just talked about putting people in school districts that have lived experiences. You cannot have a lived experience representing northeast Oklahoma City living in the Western Heights school district.”
When the OKCPS board reached the agenda item, Chairwoman Paula Lewis quickly said the item was being pulled and moved forward. In a statement Dec. 8, Lewis said the board would revisit the committee appointment process in early 2026.
“Because additional information has come to light during the board’s consideration period, OKCPS has made the decision to pull this evening’s agenda item regarding the Bond Citizens Oversight Committee,” Lewis said in the statement. “This pause will allow the board’s committee members to work with the district’s legal team and the broader OKCPS committee to review the current Bond Citizens Oversight Committee policy.”
OKCPS spokeswoman Kylie Kalsen said the district was “unable to elaborate further at this time.”
Lewis said the committee “functions as a standing BOE advisory committee and reports findings and recommendations to the board quarterly, or as needed.” OKCPS policy requires the Citizens Oversight Committee to be made up of eight at-large members who reside or work within district boundaries, and one chairperson, nominated by the superintendent and OKCPS Board chairperson.
Shelton and Derrick Scobey — a pastor and community advocate with long-standing ties to northeast OKC — have called for a new appointee to represent District 5.
“I am not here to speak disparagingly about the individual being considered for the appointment, although she does not live in Oklahoma City,” Scobey said at the OKCPS Board’s Dec. 8 meeting. “She works there, but she is certainly not intimately involved in District 5. Again, not disparagingly speaking against her, but I believe she probably would have to put in her GPS ‘Spencer, Oklahoma,’ in order to get there. District 5 is largely made up of northeast Oklahoma City and Spencer, and these communities deserve authentic representation. Somebody with deep roots, deep relationships and deep commitment to the families and students.”
Scobey also pushed for changes to the policy governing who can sit on the Citizen Oversight Committee, hoping to ensure OKCPS communities are properly represented. Scobey initially said he would like to see changes that would require examination of a candidate’s general “ties to the community” they are recommended to represent. But he also cautioned that could be too subjective.
“It works now, with this one person that we get behind, but what about the next time, and the next time? So, it does need to be specific,” Scobey said.
Shawntay Alexander, whom some northeast OKC community members have pointed to as their ideal representative on the committee, said she goes beyond simply living in District 5.
“I am shaped by it,” Alexander said. “I know the hurt, the trauma, the neglect and the threats to identity that our families experience.”
ClassWallet lawsuit dismissed
A federal judge granted a motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit against ClassWallet, something Attorney General Gentner Drummond had attempted to do before.
The lawsuit centered on allegations that ClassWallet’s handling of COVID-era Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds breached its contract with the state in its administration of education grant funds by authorizing payments not in the scope of the grant. In the dismissal, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton wrote that the state failed to state a plausible breach of contract.
“The complaint is devoid of underlying facts regarding the nature of payments allowable or not allowable,” Heaton wrote. “The court concludes the factual allegations, viewed in the state’s favor, are not sufficient.”
With limited oversight of expenses under the watch of former Secretary of Education Ryan Walters, families spent GEER funds on some items deemed to lack educational value during the COVID-19 pandemic. A multi-county grand jury concluded that Gov. Kevin Stitt, Walters and other public officials’ handling of the funds was “grossly negligent” but found “insufficient evidence” of criminal activity. An audit by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd pointed to $1.7 million in improper spending.
Stitt and Drummond, who has clashed with the governor he hopes to succeed on numerous topics, had engaged in a prolonged political fight over the lawsuit, which Heaton noted in his order by calling the history of the case unusual. Drummond dismissed the lawsuit twice and, most recently, withdrew himself from the case while blaming Stitt for the lack of GEER oversight. Stitt shot back, sardonically applauding Drummond’s move as “the first good faith attempt he has made to act on behalf of Oklahoma taxpayers.”
Drummond, however, pointed to Heaton’s scoreboard following the dismissal.
“The lawsuit was baseless from the outset,” Drummond said. “Overwhelming evidence has shown that Gov. Stitt and his administration rejected internal controls and oversight as well as failed to use ClassWallet’s available controls, leaving his administration responsible for the payout failures that occurred.”
Western Gateway: Potential partnership halted as parents perplexed
For months, the potential for a partnership between two charter schools and the prospect of losing a dual-language immersion program caused heartache among some families at Western Gateway Elementary School.
Located next to the Wheeler District, Western Gateway is Oklahoma City’s only dual language charter school, teaching English and Spanish and serving pre-K through fifth grade students from the mixed-use southwest OKC community and surrounding neighborhoods. In a survey of parents conducted amid the exploration of a memorandum of understanding with John Rex Charter School, 89 of 102 respondents ranked the dual language programming as a level-five priority on a one-to-five scale.
At a Dec. 18 Western Gateway board meeting, Mary Emerson Gomez questioned why the partnership was even being explored, expressing concern that rolling her family’s school under the John Rex charter would jeopardize the future of dual-language learning.
“What is the crux of the motivation?” Emerson Gomez asked.
Board Chairman Blair Humphreys addressed the concerns and indicated the motivation behind the proposed partnership was, at least in part, John Rex’s offerings for students beyond elementary school.
“Two things are clear, at least clear to me,” Humphreys said. “John Rex is a great school that provides a great opportunity for pre-K through (grade) 12 track, and that Western Gateway and the dual immersion program is unique and treasured by the parents and families that attend here.”
Humphreys said conversations with John Rex were purely conceptual. In a statement sent to John Rex parents after the new year, John Rex Superintendent Patrick Duffy said the exploratory conversations would not be moving forward.
“After careful review, consultation with several members of our board of directors and consideration of our strategic plan and long-term priorities, we decided not to move forward with a partnership,” Duffy said.
In a statement, Western Gateway Elementary School Superintendent Tom Deighan said he looked forward to future collaboration with John Rex, but he confirmed the exploration had ended.
“No more meetings or updates are planned for now,” Deighan said.
EPS halts PAC audit request
Edmond Public Schools is no longer requesting an audit of an independent, sanctioned organization supporting students at one of the district’s high schools.
In October, EPS communications director Jeff Bardach said the district had requested an audit of the Performing Arts Council of Edmond, a booster club tasked with supporting performing arts at Edmond Memorial High School.
The organization’s finances had fallen under scrutiny after its former president, Kyle Owen, allegedly made 112 fraudulent transactions totaling $11,890.17 during the 2024-2025 school year, according to a police report filed with the Edmond Police Department for “documentation purposes only.” In June, after being confronted by the organization’s new leadership, he repaid the $11,890.17, according to email records and members of the PACE governing board.
According to Bardach, who confirmed EPS is no longer requesting the audit, the district worked with the organization’s current leadership and resolved the situation without the need for further review. Current PACE President Danielle Briseno did not respond to a request for comment.
On the other hand, it appears Owen no longer works for New Covenant Church, as his profile has been removed from the church’s team page. Reached by phone, the church’s communications director, Catherine Cates, said she could not comment about the matter. Owen has not responded to text or phone calls requesting an interview.
District 5 EPS Board member Marcus Jones said the board is working to “ensure this never happens again.”
Former coach Jeff Myers’ trial continued
The jury trial of former Kingfisher Football Coach Jeff Myers was set to begin Jan. 12 in Kingfisher County. However, as 2025 drew to a close, Myers waived his right to a speedy trial and entered a motion for a continuance Dec. 30. According to the motion, Myers’ attorney, Joe White, is set to begin a three-week jury trial in Tulsa County on Jan. 26. The motion argues Myers’ Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel would be compromised without a continuance owing to “lack of adequate trial preparation time.” The continuance motion was granted the following day.
Myers is facing a felony child neglect charge stemming from allegations that he enabled a culture of hazing and abuse within the team, which he has denied. The charge was filed in October 2023.
Kingfisher Public Schools has felt a financial shock in the wake of the allegations, which have split the community and irritated many over the past four years. In November 2023, the district reached a $5 million settlement with Mason Mecklenburg, a former Kingfisher football player who alleged abuse in a federal lawsuit.
A new trial date has not been set, according to the Oklahoma State Courts Network. However, Myers is due back in court March 4 for a bond appearance.
