OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Newly appointed State Superintendent Lindel Fields led his first Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting Thursday, working to address a backlog of unresolved issues left by former State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who resigned Sept. 30.
Fields, along with two new board members appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt — Wes Nofire and Brian Bobek — participated in the special meeting, part of Fields’ plan to “steady the ship” at the state education agency.
Among the most pressing agenda items were delayed student transfer approvals and pending teacher certification cases. Dozens of students had been waiting for months for transfer decisions, while some educators remained on leave or received substitute pay due to unresolved certification matters.
One high-profile case involved the principal and two teachers at Sperry High School, whose teaching certificates are under suspension amid an investigation into their handling of a criminal rape case involving two students. The board voted 6–0 to table the matter, leaving the suspensions in place.
Most other certification cases were approved during the meeting.
The board also delayed action on 16 accreditation warnings, citing concerns about how the process had been handled under the previous administration. Only one warning was approved — for Western Heights Public Schools — which board members commended for improving its status from probation to warning since 2022.
“This was the first time we’ve seen accreditation — probably should’ve seen it in July or August,” said board member Becky Carson. “I have concerns about the validity of this process because of the former leadership. We were aware of some situations where this particular item of accreditation was used as a tool to harm.”
Board member Chris Van Dehende expressed concern that some charter schools on the warning list lacked corrective action plans. The board ultimately chose to table decisions on 15 of the schools.
There was no discussion of the state education budget, as it was not on the agenda. Lawmakers have granted the board an extension until Oct. 25 to submit a formal budget request. Fields said earlier this week that a proposed budget will be presented at the Oct. 23 regular board meeting, after board members are given time to review it.
The board had previously tabled a budget submitted by Walters in September, citing a lack of time to review it before voting.
Fields also plans to allow board members to add items to meeting agendas, a departure from Walters’ approach, which restricted board input on scheduling.
In addition to the budget, the department is working through a backlog of waiver requests, student transfers, open records requests, and teacher certification cases — some of which have gone unanswered for months.
“I was very surprised with the number of open records requests that are outstanding — even just the number of media requests that have gone unanswered,” said Interim Communications Director Tara Thompson. “One of the things we are trying to do quickly is take as many of these cases as we can that are holding people’s lives in jeopardy.”
The agenda for the Oct. 23 meeting is expected to be posted by 9 a.m. on Oct. 22.
