State Supt. Ryan Walters criticizes Jenks over course with LGBTQ elements; Here is the school's response

State Superintendent Ryan Walters shared a social media post on Saturday highlighting slides from a purported health course at Jenks Public Schools that mentions LGBTQ concepts. 

The district said that the issue stemmed from a course enrollment error that they promptly corrected.

What Was Posted?

In the original Feb. 27 post on X by Libs of TikTok, the account owner said a source at Jenks forwarded them screenshots from what Libs of TikTok called a “health class filled with LGBTQ propaganda.” 

The slides in question featured an explanation of the difference between sex and gender, the concept of gender identity, a short quiz on the topics, and a slide encouraging students not to use or tolerate slurs or other hurtful remarks.

Walters reshared the Libs of TikTok post and added that his department would not allow this type of information to be shared with students.

"Oklahomans elected me to put an end to woke indoctrination in our schools. We will not allow radical gender ideology to replace real education," wrote Walters.

What Was The Response By Jenks Public Schools?

Jenks Public Schools responded to the Libs of TikTok post, stating that the matter was due to an enrollment mistake.

The district said it had contacted the families of affected students when the incident happened on Feb. 19 and ensured that the students were re-enrolled in the correct course. The district has since clarified that the correct course and the course that was mistakenly enrolled in were both approved by the Statewide Charter School Board.

"The course in question from @libsoftiktok is a virtual course, not an in-person course. The provider of our virtual course offerings created two different virtual health courses.

Some JPS students (53 total) were mistakenly enrolled in the course containing content that does not align with state standards. Once this error was discovered, we communicated with the families of the affected students and made sure they were re-enrolled in the correct course within the same day. Most of the students had not even reached the module in question when we discovered students were not enrolled in the correct course.

JPS administrators have taken steps to ensure this kind of error does not occur in the future, and we have reported the issue in hopes steps will be taken so other schools can avoid making a similar error. All virtual courses available to Oklahoma students are approved by the Statewide Charter School Board," said the district in a statement.

Jenks officials said this was the same explanation given to parents and students at the time of the mistake.

The provider mentioned by the district is called Edgenuity Imagine Learning, which is a vendor for Jenks and other Oklahoma school districts. Districts access Edgenuity Imagine Learning through Horizon: Digitally Enhanced Campus, which is owned and operated by the State of Oklahoma.

Horizon provides districts with various state-certified online courses from multiple vendors (including Edgenuity Imagine Learning).

"The contract between JPS and Horizon: Digitally Enhanced Campus is governed by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board. This is a contract used by many Oklahoma school districts. Horizon: Digitally Enhanced Campus is the online learning platform owned and operated by the State of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board oversees Horizon, which is comprised of nine members, including Ryan Walters in his position as State Superintendent for Public Instruction,” said the district.

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