By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — An incumbent school board leader in Oklahoma City Public Schools won reelection in dominant fashion Tuesday.
Paula Lewis secured another four years as board chairperson in the Oklahoma City district by earning 53.54% of the vote, crossing the 50% threshold needed to win the seat without continuing to a general election.
She defeated Niah Spriggs, who earned 29.69% of the vote, and Jan Barrick with 16.76%.
Lewis, 54, ran on her record of leading the school board through a transformative era in the district’s history since she became chairperson in 2017, a period that includes carrying out a massive school consolidation plan in 2019, weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and securing a historic $955 million bond issue in 2022.
“We have really smart kids,” Lewis said as the final results rolled in Tuesday night. “They weren’t able to get the resources they needed soon enough, and we’re getting them there. We’ve right-sized the budgets. We’ve passed the bond. We’ve done all the things, and now our kids are ready to go. We’re going to really change lives in the next four years.”
She fended off Spriggs, 50, and Barrick, 73 — two first-time candidates who campaigned for change in a district that has chronically suffered from low reading and math scores.
Barrick did not return a request for comment Tuesday night.
Spriggs, an educator and former businesswoman, said the results were “sad for the children of Oklahoma.” She said the state has “allowed the system to fail for so long, it’s going to be very difficult to pull ourselves out of this hole.”
“Hopefully we can make some impactful change, hopefully starting the conversation,” Spriggs said when reached Tuesday night. “Because before Jan (Barrick) and I started talking about this, everything was the status quo.”
Spriggs also lamented the large amount of money poured into the race.
Lewis raised $66,640 for her reelection campaign, public records show. Spriggs raised $4,250 and loaned her campaign $1,200, according to campaign finance records.
Barrick, the former owner of the curriculum and testing provider Alpha Plus Educational Systems, hasn’t filed any documents detailing her campaign fundraising or spending.
Lewis, an occupational therapist, pledged to continue steady leadership as the board develops a new strategic plan focused on student outcomes. She said the goal is for the board to spend 50% of its meetings discussing academic results and student achievement.
This will be her final term on the school board, she said. Her son, Reign, will be in the final months of his senior year of high school when her term comes to a close in 2029.
“I won’t run again because I feel like being a parent has been a game changer,” Lewis said. “Sitting in this seat, it has allowed me to see the decisions we take votes on from a parent’s view and how that affects me at my house and my children, as well as from a district policy level.”
Two other board incumbents, Carole Thompson from District 1 and Vice Chairperson Lori Bowman from District 2, automatically were reelected to four-year terms after not drawing opponents.
