Patrick B. McGuigan of City News Tulsa posted a story today on local representatives questioning delay of the Tulsa Public Schools System audit. McGuigan reported from a release issued by the State House of Representatives and referenced previous stories crafted by this writer and Education Editor Susan Phillips.
McGuigan reports, Representatives Chris Banning of Bixby and Rob Hall of Tulsa, and Mark Tedford, R-Jenks, commented on the recent delay in releasing the state audit of Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) and management of federal relief funds.
The trio of Republican legislators called for greater transparency about school district finances.
In a legislative press release from the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, Banning said, “I find it unfortunate and deeply frustrating that Tulsa Public Schools delayed the audit findings.
“I believe many legislators share this concern, and the public has been waiting for two years. They deserve answers and full transparency regarding how their tax dollars were used.”
The audit, initiated in 2022 at the request of Governor Kevin Stitt, followed reports (as characterized in the new press release) “of potential financial mismanagement, including questionable expenses within the district’s talent management department. Since then, the audit process has faced repeated delays.”
Contributing Editor David Arnett had previously commended Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters for pushing for more accountability and transparency in TPS finances.
Also in 2023, Susan Phillips reported, in a news/analysis for CityNewsTulsa, that the Oklahoma State Board of Education had issued an “Accreditation with Deficiencies” for TPS.
In her own summary of the meeting, she described the conditions as follows:
* First, provide professional development in the science of reading.
* Second, report monthly progress in person to the State Board.
* Third, present a corrective action plan to get schools off F status.
* Fourth, develop, publish, and execute financial internal controls.
Click here for more of McGuigan’s post today and kudos for catching a press release this writer missed. I am reminded why I enjoyed working with him in 2023. (But did he have to use that old 1987 picture?)