New OKCPS superintendent takes helm at a critical time for Oklahoma education

There’s not much job security in being the superintendent of a big-city school district — the average tenure runs from three to six years, according to separate studies done in 2014 and 2018 — and the revolving-door leadership in Oklahoma City Public Schools has been a prime example of the volatility of that role.

Since 1985, the district with about 33,000 students — the second-largest in Oklahoma — has had 16 superintendents. Only two of those lasted as long as six years, and the latter of that pair, Sean McDaniel, is leaving the district as of June 30, apparently due to a simmering disagreement with one still-unidentified board member that boiled over in February.

Friends and critics alike agree McDaniel brought much-needed stability to the district after a string of mostly short-term superintendents during the past quarter-century. The district board, despite recent differences with McDaniel, seemed to signal it wanted to continue following the path he’s blazed by choosing as his successor a member of his district cabinet, Jamie Polk, who’d spent 25 years working in the Lawton Public Schools district before moving to Oklahoma City in July 2019. She’s most recently served as the district’s assistant superintendent for elementary education.

Polk officially starts in the top job on July 1, although for all practical purposes, she’s been the face of the district since May 11, when the board voted to promote her from her current role as assistant superintendent over elementary schools. McDaniel hasn’t attended a board meeting since Feb. 29, when the board accepted what then was seen as a surprise resignation. He’s yet to speak at length publicly about what happened.

New OKCPS superintendent faces a challenging educational landscape as she assumes her new role

Polk takes over at a critical juncture for the district, as it works to implement components of a $955 million bond approved by voters in late 2022 and budget and staffing adjustments become necessary due to the end of a COVID-era federal funding stream. Enrollment in the district also is dropping, from 41,074 in 2014-15 to 33,418 for 2023-24. The district has a projected enrollment of 32,685 for the 2024-25 school year.

There’s a statewide shortage of teachers and the Oklahoma City district has more teachers who’ve sought alternative certification ― 435 during the just-completed school year ― than any other district in the state.

Polk will look to maintain what’s thus far been a successful focus on removing district schools from the “F” list on the annual Oklahoma State Report Cards. The district, which had 30 “F” schools in 2018-19, had only 10 in 2022-23, with a good number of the schools coming off the list being elementary schools, under Polk's purview.

She’ll also have to deal with long-standing complaints about what many see as the district’s lack of transparency with the public, both in how it’s administering the bond and in how it deals with the media. Despite multiple requests from The Oklahoman, the district’s communications office refused to allow interviews with McDaniel, Polk or the board’s publicly elected chair, Paula Lewis, for this story, and it also has declined to allow McDaniel to be interviewed for other stories in recent months, choosing instead to issue well-parsed statements in news releases.

Those with close ties to the district — including a former board chair and a current member of the district’s bond oversight committee — also have complained during public meetings about lack of communication and lack of action from district staff. Others say they’ve had difficulties in receiving answers to open records requests.

Looming over all that is state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. The Walters-led state Board of Education has passed an administrative rule that would tie school and district accreditation levels to student performance on standardized tests in math and English. Oklahoma City Public Schools is one of more than 60 districts that could be negatively affected by that move and, as Walters has shown with Tulsa Public Schools, he’s willing to use accreditation threats as a weapon to put extreme pressure on large school districts to try and produce academic turnarounds.

It's a lot to absorb, which might well explain the high turnover rate in superintendents before McDaniel, as well as the current district board’s decision to hire a superintendent already familiar with the district’s machinations. State Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, said that decision was a good one.

“When it was announced she would be the new superintendent, I was thrilled because I knew who she was,” said Bennett, whose wife, Meg McElhaney, serves on the district board. "I’ve watched OKCPS deal with the superintendent issue over the last couple of decades, since I’ve been involved in politics in Oklahoma City.

“When Sean came on, we had someone who understood the context into what he was walking into," Bennett said. "His longevity speaks to that being a benefit. To take it the next step further and hire from within is magnificent. She is going to be able to hit the ground running, not just because of preexisting knowledge of the district, but because she’s prepared.”

Former superintendent's achievements include implementing Pathway to Greatness, successful push for $955 million bond

McDaniel became the Oklahoma City district superintendent after serving in the same role in three other districts ― Mustang for six years, Deer Creek for two years and Coweta for six years. He said on the day the Oklahoma City board approved his hiring that he was a “people person,” and a board member at that time called McDaniel a “relationship builder.”

McDaniel proved them correct. Principals loved McDaniel enough to encourage a last-ditch letter-writing campaign after his resignation announcement, hoping to change his mind. “We were all devastated because he has been such a pillar of support for all of us,” said Melinda Elms, a board member of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Federation of School Administrators.

Torie Luster Pennington, the president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the union which represents teachers in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district, said McDaniel emphasized communication, which made teachers feel supported.

“He would let people know he was paying attention,” Pennington said. “I’ve heard this from a lot of teachers ― he’s personable, he’s easy to talk to, polite, respectful. A lot of people felt comfortable with him. Not a lot of people can say that about their superintendent.”

Among McDaniel’s primary achievements were implementing the district’s “Pathway to Greatness” program, which closed 15 schools and reconfigured 17 others in 2019. The plan also included an element that has allowed every district student in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to be equipped with an electronic device to connect them to the internet, according to the district’s website. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) centers also have been placed in every district elementary school. All of the district’s elementary schools also now are staffed with a counselor.

McDaniel also successfully pushed for voter approval for the 2022 bond proposal, the largest in Oklahoma history. The bond includes construction projects including a new Capitol Hill High School building; a new district high school, Belle Isle Enterprise High School; new middle school and elementary school buildings; and a new athletic stadium at John Marshall Enterprise High School, among other projects.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt praised McDaniel for those accomplishments on the day McDaniel announced his resignation.

“Sean will depart as the Superintendent who took on the generational challenge of aligning the district infrastructure and services with the student population … I just can’t exaggerate how challenging that could have been,” Holt said. “There’s a reason it hadn’t been done before. Sean led our community through that incredibly complex journey. Who can forget the hours he stood in front of town halls and answered questions? It was really amazing.

“And second, Sean will depart as the Superintendent who not only passed a $1 billion bond issue, but used it as the vehicle to bring OKCPS infrastructure funding up to a level comparable to the suburban districts. This inequality had vexed the district for decades. He helped solve it not just for this bond issue, but for the long term.”

Did disagreements on Capitol Hill, charter schools result in McDaniel's departure?

But McDaniel also had those who disagreed with him, and it’s quite likely a pair of those disagreements led to his departure.

The Capitol Hill project, at $116 million, is the largest in the 2022 bond proposal. Initial renderings of the project produced by the district’s chosen contractor indicated plans to tear down the current historic high school building, which dates to 1928, and replace it with a modern structure. A group of Capitol Hill alumni vocally protested and launched a public campaign to save the old building.

Michael Smith, a leader of that alumni group, said he’s made several open records requests to the district “that have been met with foot dragging and stonewalling. Most are still not fulfilled.” He said he met McDaniel in October 2022 after the superintendent made a presentation on the Capitol Hill project.

“I asked him why he made no mention of possibly rehabilitating the Capitol Hill High School building and only showing (the renderings of) this new modernist building,” Smith told The Oklahoman. “He said he was totally open to the possibility” of rehabbing the old building. But, “as time has gone on, my impression of his administration is that it’s a totally closed door to the public. In my dealings with him in the past couple of years, it seems he’s just a totally disingenuous person to me.”

When The Oklahoman wrote about the dispute late last year, reporters made multiple requests to speak to McDaniel. Those requests were rejected and eventually the district allowed reporters to question Lewis, the board chair, who said there are no plans at present to tear down the old Capitol Hill building, although a new building will be constructed elsewhere on the campus. The newest renditions of the project show the old building to be intact.

While the drama surrounding the Capitol Hill project was unfolding, other issues were bubbling up, out of the public’s eye. In May 2023, the board expressed concerns about McDaniel’s communication with board members during a performance review, emails obtained by The Oklahoman through an open records request showed.

Last October, email exchanges between McDaniel and Lewis and Bowman, the board’s vice chair, about disagreements concerning how the district treated charter schools sponsored by the district showed another level of disconnection. Some charter schools wanted the Oklahoma City district to replace aging heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in buildings they were leasing from the district, which McDaniel had said wasn’t included in their lease agreements. On Oct. 18, Bowman emailed McDaniel with three specific questions, including the potential cost of replacing HVAC units for four charter schools located in district buildings. McDaniel asked why Bowman would need that information.

Bowman suggested the board “would really like to start the conversation about the district's vision when it comes to charters.” McDaniel said he would “welcome the conversation,” but later added, "I apologize when I come across as frustrated either in person, on the phone or in an email. We spend so much time on 2,500 kids (who attend charter schools) who do not belong to us. Time that could be spent on the 33,000.”

McDaniel, in a Nov. 21 email, recommended the board deny all four sponsorship applications from new charter schools. But six days later, the board approved one of the applications by a 6-2 vote, and a few weeks later, approved the reapplication of another one of the four charter schools.

Gary Jones, the president of the board of directors for KIPP OKC Public Schools, a charter school sponsored by the Oklahoma City district, said he didn’t think McDaniel necessarily opposed charter schools, “but he was pro-traditional public schools.” Jones said McDaniel believed traditional public schools should be treated with priority “and any actions that he believed adversely impacted public schools shouldn’t be approved.”

Jones said charter school advocates want to be treated “as part of the family of public schools” and when that didn’t happen, “that bred a lot of frustration.” In the case of the HVAC replacement dispute, Jones said, “We always felt the district should invest to maintain those facilities in top shape.”

“Charter schools have hundreds of families that are OKCPS families,” Jones said. “They may not go to the traditional school, but they go to an authorized public school and they live in the OKCPS district. We felt the district had a responsibility to provide those families with a safe, healthy place to have their children educated. … Infrastructure and facilities had to be maintained. Dr. McDaniel, we thought, was at that place, but when it came to HVAC, that became a different problem.”

Because the district owned those buildings, Jones said, “it does make sense for the district to invest in those systems.”

OKCPS patrons, other stakeholders looking forward to fresh start under Jamie Polk's leadership

Those interviewed by The Oklahoman seem united in their excitement for a fresh start for the district while still maintaining a sense of continuity with Polk. Smith, the leader of the Capitol Hill alumni group, said he's “impressed with her sincerity, her openness and passion for her work in the school district.” Jones said Polk “has shown that she has the chops to do the things necessary to improve our academic performance.”

Pennington said teachers appreciated Polk’s efforts to keep class sizes manageable, even with the loss of COVID-era funds. In one of her first major decisions as the superintendent-in-waiting, she’s recommending cuts in other areas in the district. That decision has drawn complaints from some who have been laid off as a result.

A native of Iowa, Polk graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She received a master’s degree in elementary education from Cameron University in Lawton in 2010 and an administration certification from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. She earned her doctoral degree in education policy and leadership from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

The majority of Polk’s education career has been spent working for Lawton Public Schools. Her final position during her 25 years in that Comanche County district was as its assistant superintendent of educational services. She previously served as a site principal and assistant principal within that district. Polk also spent time as a board member for Bishop Public Schools, a tiny dependent district in Lawton.

On the day the board approved her ascension to the superintendent’s job, she said the challenge of improving academics in the district lured her to Oklahoma City. She saw a paper that listed the letter grades for Oklahoma City schools on the Oklahoma State Report Card, “and it was filled with Fs.”

She said she returned to Lawton and spoke with her then-superintendent and told him, “I think I can help. I want to go see what I can do.” That superintendent, current East Central University professor Thomas Deighan, called McDaniel, “and within the week, I was here, speaking in person with Dr. McDaniel. … I don’t think it was by chance. I think it was all divine.”

Polk said her first opportunity as a superintendent coming in such a large district won’t intimidate her, because she’s already familiar with the district and its issues.

“I have had the opportunity to see behind the curtain and, no disrespect at all, but it’s really not that unique. It’s large," she said. "But there are other districts that are super-sized. The way we have it, that we are by teams … As a need comes about, you just bring the right team member to the table in order for us to solve whatever it is that we need to solve.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What change in superintendents means for Oklahoma City Public Schools