Ryan Walters Requires Oklahoma Students To Watch Prayer Video, Some Districts Opt Out

State Superintendent Ryan Walters emailed every Oklahoma superintendent, saying he's requiring all Oklahoma schools to play a roughly 90-second video to all enrolled children and send it to their parents. District leaders said there was a recall notification sent after the first email, followed by a third email with the same video and mandate.

Friday, November 15th 2024, 8:39 am

By: News On 6

State Superintendent Ryan Walters emailed every Oklahoma superintendent, saying he's requiring all Oklahoma schools play a roughly 90 second video to all kids who are enrolled and send it to their parents.

At least one district, Edmond Public Schools, says OSDE recalled the email sent to them. News 9 has reached out to OSDE for clarification on the recall of the email.

In the video, Walters prays for Oklahoma kids and stresses that students do not have to join him in prayer.

He also explains why he created the Department of Religious Liberty and Patriotism within the State Department of Education and its role.

"Dear God, thank you for all the blessings you gave our country. I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring about change to our country," Walters says in the video.

EPS announced it would not show a prayer video to students after receiving conflicting messages from Walters.

A spokesperson for EPS said Superintendent Angela Grunewald received an email from Walters late Thursday night containing the video of Walters praying and instructions for Oklahoma school districts to have students view it.

However, within 45 minutes of the initial email, EPS received a recall notice from the Oklahoma Department of Education, indicating that Walters was attempting to retract the message, according to the district’s spokesperson. As a result, the district decided not to show the video to students despite receiving several inquiries from parents asking if they could opt out of the viewing.

Jenks Public Schools also said that they do not plan to play the video for students at this time.

Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller responded to the video by saying that his district has no plans of showing the video to students. He confirmed that his district also received the recall notification but said the original video and email were sent again with no changes.

"Yes, I did receive the superintendent’s email. We have no plans to share the message with families or students at this time," said Miller.

Miller is suing Walters for defamation after the state superintendent called him a "liar" and a "clown" after an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. Walters made those comments in response to Miller's criticism of his handling of Title I funds.

The full video can be found below.