The February meeting was more cordial than the previous meeting, in which state Superintendent Janet Barresi locked horns with board members. Former state Sen. Herb Rozell, the member state Republicans demanded resign following comments about one of Barresi’s legislative liaison appointments, was absent from the meeting. Tim Gilpin, who in the previous meeting told Barresi […]
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Means business
Incumbent David Castillo was defeated by challenger Jay Means in a three-way race for the District 6 seat, which represents southwest Oklahoma City. Castillo came in third with 15 percent of the vote, while Means garnered 68 percent of the vote. The third candidate Charles Campbell, got around 16 percent of the vote. Means, a […]
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Private and public
Three of state Superintendent Janet Barresi’s hires rejected by the Oklahoma State Board of Education in a contentious January meeting will stay on board using private funds to pay their salaries. Meanwhile, Barresi asked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to look into possible Open Meetings Act violations by the board, alleging the push-back appeared orchestrated […]
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Board games
Well, that didn’t take long. The honeymoon period for newly elected state Superintendent Janet Barresi came to an abrupt end at the Jan. 27 state Board of Education meeting. The meeting, Barresi’s first as chair of the board, quickly turned into a sandbox of heated exchanges, name-calling and general animosity between Barresi and the members […]
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Year-round learning
The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 13 to change the district’s traditional calendar to a “continuous learning calendar,” which features a shorter summer break while increasing the time of fall, winter and spring breaks. The new schedule has the same number of days as the old one, and allows students […]
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Passing the gavel
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett took the gavel one last time on Dec. 16 as she chaired her final regular state Board of Education meeting. After two decades at the post, Garrett, who did not run for reelection, is retiring in January, when Superintendent-elect Janet Barresi will be sworn into office. “Certainly, it has really been […]