Discovery of Tulsa Public Schools contract irregularity announced

Based on what was found during the review process, Superintendent Deborah Gist said Thursday the irregularities were tied to one vendor contract on the operations side of the Talent Management Department. The contract in question was paid for with funds from a single philanthropic donor and did not involve any public money.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Gist declined to name any of the parties involved but did say the contract’s body of work has been stopped and that no students were involved. Additionally, one employee is no longer with the district due to the matter.

The irregularities allegedly happened more than two years ago but were brought to the administration’s attention only within the last month.

After internal discussions among district officials and a review by an outside attorney, Gist said, the findings were turned over to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office on Monday.

However, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office said the office had not received a police report on the matter as of the close of business Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, school board President Stacey Woolley said she had not received any requests for specific action from other board members in light of the allegations.

Although school districts are subject to an annual third-party audit, both District 4 representative E’Lena Ashley and District 6 representative Jerry Griffin have previously called for a forensic audit of TPS’ finances. Individual school board members do not have the statutory authority to make such a request.

“This board will continue to focus on achieving the best outcomes for our students while making sure that we’re holding Dr. Gist accountable for taking the appropriate action,” Woolley said. “It’s easy to get bogged down in other things, but our job is to hold her responsible while also keeping our eyes on the ball.”

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