Western Heights is fighting decades of fraud, scandal. Was it enough to convince bond voters?

There’s been no escaping the whirlwind that’s enveloped the Western Heights Public Schools district since 2021. Dueling superintendents, a state takeover, court cases, allegations of corruption concerning former administrators and board members, an ongoing state audit and aggressive cultural pressures from the current state schools superintendent — the turmoil has remained constant.

With a new superintendent and a new board of education, district leaders are now seeking to rebuild trust they fear may have suffered during the extended period of turmoil. How well they’ve done that could well be shown Tuesday, when voters consider a $2.96 million bond proposal, the first put forward by the district since 2017.

By design, the proposal’s amount is small and addresses simple needs, such as installing new security cameras and fencing across the district, securing entrances at district school sites and purchasing two school buses. By law, transportation bond requests require their own proposition, so there will be two items before the voters. District leaders see the vote as a chance to begin generating positive momentum and note that tax rates for residents would not increase if the proposal is approved.

“I would like for my district to be able to move forward and heal,” said Briana Flatley, the president of the current Western Heights board. “We’ve been through enough the last four years.”

During COVID, Western Heights Public Schools was one step away from dissolution

As the nation dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, the dysfunction within the district exploded into public view in April 2021, when the Oklahoma State Department of Education placed Western Heights on probation — one step away from dissolving the district. The state Education Department cited significant enrollment and staffing losses, wrongful use of bond funds and a failure to provide in-person education. It ordered the district to take immediate corrective action.

About two months later, the state Board of Education suspended the certification of Mannix Barnes, who’d been Western Heights’ superintendent since 2019. In response, the district sued the state board and gave Barnes a contract extension and a bonus, despite his suspension.

In July 2021, the state Education Department took control of the district and installed an interim superintendent, but the Western Heights board, led by its then-president, Robert Everman, fought the takeover and tried to install its own interim superintendent. It took a court order and a failed appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by the district for that behavior to change, and even then it didn’t stop completely, as Everman once tried to superimpose a meeting agenda over that approved by the district’s interim superintendent.

In August 2021, the state board called on Everman to resign but he didn’t do so until November, when two other board members who often had supported him also stepped down simultaneously.

The damage to the district had been done. A 2019 audit found Western Heights administrators used $8.8 million in 2018 bond funds to repay 2009 and 2013 bonds. A 2020 audit showed the district's financial reports often were late and incorrect. District patrons requested an audit from the Oklahoma state auditor and inspector's office in 2021 and that’s still in process.

Brayden Savage, a former teacher and administrator in the Western Heights district, left in 2019 but returned and became its interim superintendent in January 2022. She since has taken on the full-time role. By law, as a district employee, she cannot advocate for the bond proposal, only encourage people to vote. That said, she acknowledges the importance of this election for the district, which serves about 2,800 students in southwest Oklahoma City.

“We are trying to be very purposeful, because we know the prior bond that we had (in 2017), there were a lot of things about that one that were questioned by our community,” Savage said. “There’s a history. We’ve not had an issue … with passing bonds. But over the last few years, we know we’ve lost that trust with our community.”

Flatley said rebuilding the faith among its patrons that district leaders will do the right things remains an ongoing process.

“The trust is going to be the biggest piece, not only for our community, but our educators and students in the district, because it was completely lost, and there is lingering PTSD for them,” Flatley said. “We need to get over the hurdle and build that connection back up. It’s kind of what I ran my campaign on. There has to be honesty for this to work.”

The most recent headwind faced by the district came in recent months, after it hired Shane Murnan to serve as an elementary school principal. During his personal time, Murnan also performed as a drag queen. This drew the attention of the conservative social media page Libs of TikTok and state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, who publicly and forcefully advocated for Murnan to be removed from the district.

Last month, Murnan tendered his resignation, which the Western Heights board will consider at its meeting on Monday. Savage called it a “tragic situation” but said the district had spent $65,000 in unplanned costs on security — due to threats received once Murnan’s avocation became widely known — and on personnel costs accrued.

Murnan told the nonprofit news website NonDoc that his resignation was forced and disputed much of Savage’s description of the situation. Savage declined to comment on the allegations Murnan made in the NonDoc story.

Flatley said while she constantly heard complaints from constituents about the actions of Mannix and Everman, she’s heard little from those same people about the situation regarding Murnan. She said she hopes Murnan’s supporters within the district will see the bigger picture when it comes to the bond proposal.

“I would hope they would see we are trying to make improvements to the safety of students,” Flatley said. “A lot of the decisions with Dr. Murnan had to do with safety, for students and staff and himself. I would hope they wouldn’t push back on that. Constituents and parents want this to pass. It has nothing to do with Dr. Murnan. That’s a completely separate issue.”

'We can’t continue to hold issues from previous administration on this one'

Amy Boone, the parent of a Western Heights elementary school student, serves on an advisory board of district stakeholders, which was convened by Savage soon after she became superintendent. Boone said the advisory board suggested the first bond proposal of Savage’s administration should be a small one, given the district’s recent history.

“I think it’s fair to say, historically, bond money in this district has not been spent in an appropriate way,” Boone said. “Those people are all out now and new people are in. It’s fair to give them a chance to do what they say they will do. We can’t continue to hold issues from previous administration on this one.”

Boone hopes the turnout is considerably higher than in the district’s 2017 bond election, in which only 164 voters approved the proposal.

Flatley said other issues within the district will need to be addressed by subsequent bond proposals, but agreed it was wise to start small and to focus on security and buses. The number of buses requested also is a compromise, she said, noting the district actually needs four of them.

“We have to be transparent with the community,” she said. “The items in the bond are separate from all these other issues the district is facing. We have had a lot of complaints about safety and security. We’ve had some concern about the buses. We are addressing those needs.

“This is a step toward building that relationship back.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma district fights past scandal in seeking support on bond issue