"Lack of accountability and transparency" following LOFT meeting with OSDE

Superintendent of schools in Oklahoma Ryan Walters was held somewhat accountable during a Thursday meeting regarding reports from the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT).

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Superintendent of Oklahoma schools Ryan Walters was held somewhat accountable during a Thursday meeting regarding reports from the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT).

"I feel like further thought needs to be given before this gets rolled out," said Representative Melissa Provenzano at one point.

Questions revolved around two new reports from LOFT. One of the reports surrounded the review of how the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has handled using or applying for federal funds and grants.

One of the major findings was that around $1.4 million in grant funding was left on the table in the recent year that would have gone towards making schools safer. That is $1.4 million of taxpayer dollars going towards other states that are not Oklahoma.

Specifically, the Ready 2 Learn grant amounted to just over $1.17 million in unused funds. The other grant was the STOP School Violence Technology and Threat Assessment grant which amounted to just over $216,900 according to the findings.

Over a month ago, KFOR reported on findings that OSDE missed out on a $1 million grant.

Supt. Walters at the time was asked why and said, "We have a process where we look at every grant and we make sure Joe Biden is not trying to indoctrinate kids with the grant."

However, that was not his answer when he was asked why $1.4 million was left on the table Thursday.

Instead, he responded with a few different answers when asked what happened. Mainly he blamed his exodus of staff which, not too long ago he praised as being a good thing for OSDE and Oklahoma schools.

"The employees that allowed this to happen are no longer with us. They either were removed or left intentionally and did not turn over the records," said Supt. Walters to the committee.

He also answered by blaming the media for misreporting or lying. And finally, he blamed the previous administration which would have been Joy Hoffmeister.

The questions from Representatives then evolved into asking about staffing at OSDE surrounding federal grants. A question asked was about how many staff members work or are there to apply for these grants.

The answers for that were different as well. At one point OSDE said that everyone in the agency looks through the grants and then a woman by the name of Jennifer was named as looking through competitive grants.

"Quite frankly, some people would leave a lot of information behind," OSDE eventually blamed staffing for a lack of applications for certain grants.

Another point was made in terms of the ESSER funds dashboard and the fact that the data is not up to date.

ESSER funds were granted during the Coronavirus pandemic to states in order to help schools nationwide. States received millions in funds, the dashboard was created to be transparent.

"It's not transparent when it's completely out of date," stated several Representatives.

Under this further questioning, Walters blamed staff and pointed at previous Superintendent Hoffmeister for it being not up to date.

"We've been waiting," said Walters after he stated that they didn't have access to update some of the numbers yet.

"If it hasn't been updated in six months or more than a year, does that make it more or less transparent," asked Representative Michael Brooks.

Walters then told lawmakers that he would send updated numbers to them at a later date.

Some of the answers given to lawmakers regarding the findings in LOFT's reports were not the same ones given to KFOR over the past year when asked similar questions.

The other report focused on OSDE's actions in terms of testing.

Recently, OSDE proposed tying a school's standing to improving test scores. Essentially any school or district with 50% of students scoring below basic could end up losing accreditation or be close to losing accreditation.

Walters told lawmakers that schools could appeal if their scores were below basic.

Several superintendents have spoken with KFOR about their concerns surrounding this. Some said that it would negatively affect things, like smaller more rural districts or schools.

"It is unfair and unjust to judge students in that fashion," said Superintendent of Duke Public Schools Todd Ware in a previous interview.

On Thursday several lawmakers at the meeting showed concern surrounding the issue and asked Superintendent Walters questions around that topic.

"Our students with disabilities are overwhelmingly impacted by this rule, I would imagine," said Rep. Provenzano.

"Poverty-stricken students will clearly be affected," said Representative Meloyde Blancett.

However Supt. Walters stood by his thoughts surrounding the issue as he has said in the past.

"I think it is essential we hold high expectations for kids no matter what their background is," said Supt. Walters.

Several other points were made in the two reports that can be found here.

Thursday's reports were only the beginning and not the finalized report. Representatives pushed to continue discussing and finding answers to the many questions asked.