By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — A forensic audit of Tulsa Public Schools with “significant” findings is complete, but State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said Tuesday her office must wait two more weeks to release it.
Byrd said Tulsa’s superintendent and school board invoked a state law that requires her office to discuss audit findings with the audited school at least 14 days prior to releasing the report publicly.
In a statement through its communications department, Tulsa Public Schools said its administrators have not seen the full audit and had heard only an overview of the findings on Tuesday, the day the report was meant to come out.
Byrd said an attorney representing the district informed her Tuesday morning of Tulsa’s intent to invoke the law requiring the 14-day window of review. She had planned to release the full report that afternoon and called the invocation highly unusual.
The state auditor’s news conference on Tuesday at the Oklahoma History Center lasted three minutes. Byrd said she was unable to answer questions and then left the room.
“We called this press conference to release the forensic audit report for Tulsa Public Schools,” Byrd said. “I’ve just been told I cannot do that today. The audit is complete and the findings are significant, but you’re not allowed to see it.”
The district said it did not pursue any legal action in response to the audit’s scheduled release. The 14 days of review allow schools to provide clarifying information or additional context to the state auditor, according to its statement.
“Additionally, the district does not have the full audit report, has not seen it, and does not make the decision when (or when not) to release it,” the statement reads.
Gov. Kevin Stitt requested the audit on July 7, 2022. Tulsa Board of Education members E’Lena Ashley and Jennettie Marshall had raised concerns with the governor about the district’s finances and an alleged lack of transparency with the school board by then-Superintendent Deborah Gist’s administration.
At the time, Stitt said he was concerned with potential mishandling of funds and criticized the district for the length of time it remained closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also suggested Tulsa violated House Bill 1775, a 2021 state law that prohibits certain race and gender topics from being discussed in schools. Tulsa later suffered an accreditation penalty over HB 1775.
It is unclear how much of the governor’s complaints will be addressed in the final audit.
The district’s former chief talent and equity officer had resigned in June 2022 when accused of embezzling district funds with fraudulent invoices. Devin Darel Fletcher later pleaded guilty in Tulsa federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Fletcher was sentenced on Nov. 25 to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. A federal judge ordered him to pay $593,492.32 in restitution.
Multiple Tulsa administrators have left the district in the years since the governor requested the audit. Gist resigned under pressure from state Superintendent Ryan Walters and the state Board of Education in September 2023, facing criticisms over the district’s financial and academic performance. Several members of her leadership team later followed.
Byrd said it took two years to finish auditing the district because of “constant obstacles that TPS administrators employed to delay and mislead our investigators.”
She said she will have to wait two more weeks to make the report public unless the district agrees to having it released sooner. Either way, she said the results won’t change.
“This tactic falls perfectly in line with the pattern of behavior that we have witnessed for two years,” Byrd said.
The school district said it has worked in a “cooperative spirit” with auditors since the governor requested the investigation. It said it has bolstered the areas of concern the auditor’s office raised.
“During that time, the district has welcomed the opportunity to revise and improve our practices and procedures and will continue to operate in a spirit of continuous improvement,” Tulsa’s statement reads.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Tulsa Public Schools, which the district provided after initial publication.
