TPS superintendent discusses state audit findings, weather closures and transparency efforts

A state audit released last week revealed financial discrepancies in Tulsa Public Schools, focusing on the years 2015 through 2023, under the district’s previous superintendent.

Auditors reviewed more than $37 million in expenditures and found more than 1,400 financial discrepancies, including $25 million spent in violation of the district’s own policies.

Tulsa Public Schools audit released after 2 weeks: Here's what we learned

Dr. Ebony Johnson, Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent, joined us to discuss the audit findings and the district’s next steps.

Q: What was your first reaction to the audit findings?

“You know, when we received the audit information, we were not incredibly surprised at some of the areas that we knew we needed to tighten up and correct and put in fiscal transparency and so it wasn't extremely shocking to see some of the areas, but other areas, we were taken aback by some of the information that we had learned.

“One of the things that I'm appreciative about, as we heard from auditor Byrd, is that we have been in collaboration and communication with the State Auditor's Office, and we've already put things in place for quite some time in order to sure up and to do things better when it comes to fiscal transparency and just ensuring that we are on top of the things that we need to do in the area of finances.”

Q: Do you feel like you inherited these problems?

“I'll just say that, you know, I'm Team Tulsa in that. I know that there were things that happened prior to me becoming the superintendent, but once you step into the seat, it becomes yours, and so that's where I am, and that absolutely there's lot of work to be done, lot of cleanup to do, regarding the the dollars and cents and making sure that all of our team members are trained properly, and that we have so many things in place in order that we do not go backwards in those efforts.

“And then we also have inquiry still around some things that we need to do better, and we're asking for those answers to to just better understand those things, but absolutely full speed ahead, we're looking forward to moving forward. Right now, our academics is speaking to our students doing well, and now we're just going to make sure that all of our systems around our academics are tight and right.”

Q: You mentioned changes already in place. I believe using AI for internal auditing is one of those, along with additional financial reporting and transparency. Can you elaborate?

“Absolutely. I'll just say we have quite a few things that we have put in place. Not only have I changed out our leadership team, so we have a new chief financial officer. In addition to that, we've hired a person that is our internal auditor. Both of those individuals, both our chief financial officer and our internal auditor, have a CPA, so they come with that level of background.

“In addition to that, we are being more transparent around the information that we show our board during our board meetings, as well as our board subcommittees regarding our finances. We've made those sets of information very transparent — our PO's, our encumbrance reports, and other reports that are germane to our finances.

“In addition, we have purchased an AI software that will help us detect fraud. We're human, and so human errors happen in any organization, especially one our size. You know, we're the third largest employer in Tulsa County. And so with that comes just a lot of human touch, and we have to just make sure that we're doing things on point.”

Q: Let’s talk about the recent weather closures. I know school was out for an entire week, which can be challenging both for academics and meeting the required instructional hours. How is the district addressing that?

“Absolutely. And that was a tough call that week, I tell you what. But we knew that the weather spoke to us being safe, so we will always put students, team members, and families in a position where we are practicing safety.

“But it was very tough because we have exceeded the number of days that we can be out due to inclement weather. We're working very closely with the State Department to see how we will make up those days, either through adding minutes during the school day for the rest of the school year, or adding days at the end of the year.

“So we're trying to figure out what that's going to look like. Hopefully, our goal is to announce that before spring break. We know our families deserve that information, but yes, we do not like missing school. That was not something that we were excited about having to do, but we were glad that our students and families were safe.”

Previous stories on the TPS audit:

Tulsa Public Schools board members hold press conference in response to audit results

TPS board member calls for accountability following audit findings

Tulsa Public School officials react to audit report findings