Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson discusses delay in audit release

On Tuesday, State Auditor Cindy Byrd was set to release an audit of Tulsa Public Schools that her office has spent the past two years working on. Instead of releasing the audit, at a press conference on Tuesday, she announced that it would be an additional two weeks before the state can release it, at the request of TPS attorneys who invoked a state law.

TPS Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson spoke with News On 6 about the press conference and what's next.

Q: Can you help us understand why attorneys for the school district are using the state law to delay the release of the audit?

"So I do want to, before answering that, just want to give a little bit of clarity around what did take place yesterday. So our Tulsa Public Schools and members of our Board of Education, we met with representatives of the Oklahoma State Auditors and Inspectors Office to go over their results. They scheduled the meeting with us to give us the results, and we were actually a bit excited about getting them, because it has been two and a half years of an audit. Once we received that overview, we got a brief overview of the anticipated findings. From there, we then began to process that information as best as we could within those meetings. And then, of course, we had some inquiry about a few of those things that we were able to engage in, and we were notified within that time that we would not have additional time to ask more questions, as well as propose any changes, or just have time to process, because there would be a press conference. We were not made aware of that press conference until we were literally in that meeting and found out from the media.

Having said that, we were a bit surprised about that because throughout our auditing process, as well as, I would just say, as the superintendent, both during my interim time and as superintendent, we were made to believe—I was made to believe—that we would have some time to look over it, process it, understand it, and if we had questions or inquiries or additional information to submit, we would be able to do so. So that's how we got to a place where the conversation centered around our statute, the statute that’s in law. This has been in place since 1999. We were not bringing up anything that wouldn’t have been known, or something that was made up. But, you know, it’s a law that allows for school districts to have this kind of time in order to do the aforementioned things that I stated."

Q: Have you all been able to see the full audit itself? Or is that what you’ll be using these next two weeks for—to get more clarity or to ask questions?

"That’s exactly right. So, what we have been able to see is an overview. It came to us in the form of a PowerPoint, an overview of what the findings will be in a more exhaustive report. We were told how to actually access that more extensive report by putting in an open records request, and we are going to follow the proper procedures that have been outlined by the State Auditor’s Office to get those detailed results. Also, I asked about the PowerPoint share, and the auditors who are present, who, by the way, have been working alongside us now for quite some time throughout this entire process, and I believe they would say we’ve been cooperative. They definitely have been cooperative with us, and they assured me that they would get me that PowerPoint via email. So we’re putting in a formal request today because we know they were here in Tulsa and needed to get back to Oklahoma City, and so we’re just going to send a reminder that we do want to get that information."

Q: you’ve talked about this or mentioned this before—the cooperation. Your office, the school district, has been very cooperative with the state and vice versa. Yesterday, during the press conference, I don’t know if you picked up on this, but she had mentioned something about TPS hindering this process. Can you speak to that? Do you know perhaps what she was talking about?

"No, I was actually a little surprised at that statement, because we have been pretty much in communication on a very consistent basis with the State Auditor’s Office. Before I was the superintendent, I can recall there being many conversations and requests for information that the team then was putting out there and making sure that our State Auditor’s Office received as best as possible. We are talking about an audit that stems back from gathering information for years, and under my leadership, I know that we have had ongoing communication, conversations, and requests for information that we’ve consistently been responsive to while running the largest district in the state. So, having said that, just trying to keep up with the amount of requests and making sure that information was submitted, I was surprised to hear that there’s a perception by the department, by the State Auditor’s Office, that there was not cooperation because that’s not the sentiment that we’ve received from the auditors who work in that department, who have been talking with us and visiting with us for now over two and a half years."

Q: Let’s talk about the school district itself. We’ve talked about this before, that you’ve already made changes internally to ensure, at least in one case, that money will not be mishandled again. Do you anticipate making any more changes?

"So we actually look forward to sharing some of the changes that we are putting in place that we know will make our district stronger. We are absolutely committed to what I call our continuous improvement efforts, which allow us to continue to move in the direction that we know our district can go, ensuring that we do have fiscal responsibility that’s transparent, that we are in communication on a consistent basis with our Board of Education, and that we are reporting our information accurately. So, all those things, we definitely are making a strong commitment to, in addition to even more things as we learn more from our anticipated audit."

Q: All right. Dr. Ebony Johnson, thank you so much for your time this afternoon, and we’re patiently awaiting two weeks.

"Oh no, thank you, and I appreciate you for wanting to talk with us about it. And if I could leave a lasting statement, I just want to say that our goal with receiving this information is to continue to get better as a district, to collaborate even more again with our Board of Education and our community to make sure that everyone knows that we are being upfront and transparent, and we are handling all of our business in a responsible way. This audit, the results of this audit, will allow us to do that, and so we’re looking forward to digging deeper and making sure we shore up our practices. We look forward to making sure that Tulsa Public Schools is the exemplar district."