Tulsa mayor on state takeover of TPS: 'We do not want it, and we do not need it'

After a Friday morning meeting with State Superintendent Ryan Walters — which included members of the Tulsa Public Schools board and state board of education — Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum called going ahead with Walters’ threats of a state takeover of Tulsa Public Schools an “extreme action” and “an affront to democratic principles of self government upon which our country was founded.”

He issued a letter to the Oklahoma State Board of Education with a simple message: "We do not want it, and we do not need it."

Instead of including the Tulsa school district with the routine renewal of state accreditation for all public school districts in the state in July, Walters persuaded Gov. Kevin Stitt’s appointees on the Oklahoma State Board of Education to delay a decision until the board’s next meeting, set for Aug. 24.

He said he needed more time for a “fact-finding mission” and has said all options are on the table, including recommendations for a state takeover like the one newly underway in Houston and even nonaccreditation, which would halt state recognition of and funding for TPS.

Stitt told the Tulsa World earlier this week that he believes TPS’ issues and the employment of Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist, who has been repeatedly targeted with criticism and calls for replacement by Walters, matters of local control.

“I don’t know what takeover is, what they are talking about. I believe in local control. I think the local board needs to address that,” Stitt said.

In attendance at Friday morning’s City Hall meeting were Bynum; Walters; Tulsa school board president and vice president Stacey Woolley and John Croisant; and Tulsa businessman Don Burdick, a Stitt-appointed member on the state Board of Education.

Bynum said afterward that he believes “there is a sincere desire to work together to deliver a great education for students in Tulsa Public Schools.”

Bynum urged the state Board of Education not to authorize Walters to take over TPS and he asked instead for “an ongoing collaboration with the State Department of Education to make Tulsa Public Schools the best school district in the state.”

“As with many of the authorities allocated to those of us in government by the citizens we serve, just because we have the power to do something doesn’t mean we should,” Bynum wrote in a Friday letter, which he shared on social media. “An action of that severity would only be appropriate if the board or superintendent were guilty of criminality or an unwillingness to improve outcomes for students They are guilty of neither."

He also addressed an embezzlement case, which is still under investigation by federal law enforcement, because Walters has used it to call into question the wider fiscal management under Gist’s leadership at TPS.

“The disgraceful embezzlement of public funds by a single former employee has been cited in the District’s independent audits. The District has fully complied with ongoing related criminal investigations, and it has modified its internal controls to prevent similar crimes in the future,” Bynum wrote.

The Tulsa World caught Woolley and Croisant leaving City Hall around noon.

“There were some stern words both directions and also very diplomatic,” Woolley said. “This is the beginning of a diplomatic conversation in which Tulsa Public Schools will strive to improve — like we have been — and he is going to work with us to do that.”

When asked if any business or other city leaders have sought Gist’s resignation, in response to Walters’ criticism, Woolley said no.

Did Gist’s employment status come up during Friday’s meeting at City Hall?

“As much as was discussed about her status is that I believe the board has been working incredibly hard with the administration in the last few years in the development of our strategic plan. And in this, our first real year of that strategic plan, all goals have been met. That strategic plan was developed with the community, and I made sure to reinforce to State Superintendent Walters, as did Mr. Croisant, that we believe we are on the right path — and that leadership and continuity is incredibly important.”

Croisant said the only person who has contacted him to echo Walters’ desire for Gist to be replaced was a resident of Jenks.

He also expressed gratitude to Bynum for helping “get us to the table” on Friday.

“Whenever we talk about people behind their back, or in the media, publicly, without actually having a conversation, without sitting down with them, it’s kind of hard to understand where they’re coming from,” Croisant said. “I think there’s a lot the state doesn’t know about what Tulsa Public Schools has been doing around our strategic plan and from all of the things the last few years that we’ve implemented, that I think, are very similar — they’re almost exactly the same as what the (state) superintendent is wanting us to do. So we have the same goals. He just didn’t maybe understand what those goals were because he hadn’t had that in-depth conversation with us.”

Woolley said she and Gist met earlier this week with the leadership of the Tulsa Regional Chamber shortly after Walters did.

“Basically, I would say how it went is, they shared the information that he had shared with them as part of a document, and we were given the opportunity, I would say, to explain our reflection on that data,” Woolley said.

Mike Neal, president and CEO of the chamber, did not respond directly to Tulsa World questions about the meeting, but was unequivocal​ regarding the school district’s accreditation status.

"We do not support a state takeover of Tulsa Public Schools," Neal said. “We strongly support the reaccreditation of Tulsa Public Schools.” 

Walters' spokesman did not respond to an invitation to comment.

Staff writers Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton and Kevin Canfield contributed to this report.

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