Ryan Walters accused of defaming Mid-Del school district over federal fund spending

Murray Evans, The Oklahoman
·4 min read
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In a forceful presentation, the superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools excoriated state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters during the state Board of Education meeting Thursday, accusing Walters of defaming the district.

After the meeting, Walters responded by claiming, without offering evidence, that district Superintendent Rick Cobb has mismanaged funds for years.

The dispute arose from something Walters said during a state Senate budget hearing earlier this month, when he responded to a question from Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, about delays in federal funds reaching the Mid-Del district. Walters said the district — which serves parts of Midwest City, Del City and Oklahoma City — misspent more than $500,000 of federal funds “on lawn care that is expressly prohibited in federal rules and regulations.”

Cobb took umbrage with that assertion and said Walters’ statement during the hearing was the first he’d heard of any concern from the Oklahoma State Department of Education about any such issue. The state Education Department manages federal funds that flow through the agency to the state’s more than 500 districts, including Title Program Grants and ESSER III programs.

Rick Cobb, superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools, speaks during a school board meeting Thursday at the state Capitol.
Rick Cobb, superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools, speaks during a school board meeting Thursday at the state Capitol.

Title funds consist of federal money received annually that is meant to supplement state-provided education funding. ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds come from three federal stimulus bills passed in 2020 and 2021.

Cobb responded Thursday, signing up to be one of the 10 people allowed to speak during the public-comment portion of the meeting. His comments were limited to three minutes.

“Your statement was wrong, on multiple levels, and I can’t stand idly by and let you defame our great school district or any of the hard-working people handling our federal programs applications and claims, up to and including myself,” Cobb said, staring at Walters.

“I have several problems with your comments. First, it’s just not true to say that we misspent federal funds. With all three tranches of COVID funds, we took extra care to ask questions, sometimes redundantly. This has been such an extraordinary process and amount of money that we wanted to make sure to get everything right from the beginning.”

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma state schools superintendent, speaks Thursday during a school board meeting at the state Capitol.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma state schools superintendent, speaks Thursday during a school board meeting at the state Capitol.

Cobb said that under federal guidance, the use of those funds included 20 separate categories listing what was allowable. He said Mid-Del spent the money under one of those categories that allowed the district to do so for “other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services … and continuing to employ existing staff.”

'You've disrespected my district'

The Mid-Del district included its contracts with companies that manage its groundskeeping, Cobb said, and told Walters and the board that “every year in which we have done so, this has been allowable.” Cobb said state Education Department staff approved the spending in the district’s ESSER funding application for the current fiscal year. “Further clarification for you and your staff can be found in the Uniform Grant Guidance which includes allowances for using federal funds for “care of grounds,” he said.

Cobb told Walters, “I know you have my cell number,” and that if the superintendent or his staff had any questions, they could have called first. Walters disputed the assertion that Cobb hadn't heard from any state Education Department officials about the issue before the Senate hearing.

"That's a joke," Walters said. "Our federal programs people are in contact with districts every week. They're very aware of their issues. You heard his lies today, trying to cover it up. We're not going to tolerate it. We're not going to tolerate the misuse of taxpayer dollars."

According to the Mid-Del district website, Cobb is in in his 31st year in education and his ninth year as the district's superintendent.

Rick Cobb, superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools, speaks during a school board meeting Thursday at the Oklahoma Capitol.
Rick Cobb, superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools, speaks during a school board meeting Thursday at the Oklahoma Capitol.

“You’ve disrespected my district,” Cobb told Walters. “You’ve disrespected the hardworking people in Mid-Del who always conscientiously, always diligently, put in the hours to make sure that we are serving our students to the best of our ability, with the resources we have, and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. You’ve also disrespected me. I’ve worked directly with federal programs at the district level for 16 years. Those of us who do this work day-in, day-out don’t just give blanket approval for funding requests.

“Words matter. When you spread misinformation, no retraction, no correction completely undoes the damage. On behalf of my community, I implore you to do better. To be better.”

Walters said after the meeting Cobb was "very defensive for someone who's been caught misusing funds. That's what you saw there from him. Again, he's been a terrible steward of taxpayer dollars. He's misused federal funds and our agency will hold him and his district accountable."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters defamed Mid-Del Public Schools, superintendent says