State Board Of Education Meeting Discusses Federal Funding, Attorney General Opinion And More

Thursday the State Board of Education held its monthly meeting covering a variety of topics including federal funding and a recent Attorney General opinion. 

In his opening comments, State Superintendent Ryan Walters responded to questions from state lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Education on federal funding. 

The USDE released a report: https://www.news9.com/story/66c65f108c172629c915e751/federal-lawmakers-flag-dozens-of-action-items-at-oklahoma-state-department-of-education 

Flagging dozens of items and procedures at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Today, the state superintendent says most of the policies that were flagged were old policies from before he was in office. 

“When I came to office in 2023, I made it very clear that we had to prioritize and make changes towards our procedures in regard to federal programming,” said Walters. “Most of the items that feds are asking questions about were things that we addressed frankly months ago. These are these are problems that we took on and have been handling.” 

State lawmakers have also raised concerns about Title I funding, or federal funding for low-income students. This week many districts noticed issues with their federal funding portals, saying they weren't sure how much they would be getting, and some districts even had their numbers zeroed out. 

State Superintendent Ryan Walters says that was just a glitch that has been resolved. 

Superintendent Walters also responded to a new Attorney General Opinion on the Open Meetings Act. The opinion was requested by a state lawmaker, who was one of several who were kept out of OSDE executive sessions. 

The opinion from the AG says that lawmakers who serve on education committees should be privy to OSDE executive sessions. 

But the counsel for the state board of education sees things differently, saying lawmakers shouldn't be allowed in private meetings where the board members are discussing topics like student and teacher information.

“I think the board wants more time, they want to be able to talk to their board counsel, they want to talk to others to try and get their head around it, but it's a lot for a board to take in so we're just going to continue those conversations, “said Walters. 

Board members discussed eliminating executive sessions until they've reviewed the opinion. This month members discussed revoking and suspending teaching certifications out in the open.

Drummond said in a statement:

“It strains credibility and common sense that any legislator would be barred from the executive session of a state agency they oversee.” 

Drummond adds:

“The State Board of Education may not like the law, but its members still must follow it. This provision has been in effect for more than 45 years, and I am not aware of a single other state entity that has a problem allowing legislators in to executive session.” 

The next State Board of Education meeting is set for September 26th at 9:30 a.m.