Oklahoma State Board of Education cancels monthly meeting due to 'technical issue'

The Oklahoma State Board of Education has canceled its monthly meeting scheduled for Thursday.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said the meeting was postponed due to a "technical issue."

“Due to a technical issue, the OSBE Agenda for March was posted on the internet 19 minutes late," Walters said. "The Agenda was timely posted at OSDE headquarters where the meeting is held."

Walters also said the agenda was sent to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for posting ahead of the deadline, and the board counsel advised that the meeting could continue.

However, Walters said some OSBE members expressed reservations due to a potential Open Meeting Act violation.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the board meeting for March will be scheduled for April 24th, 2025, which is the next scheduled board meeting date," Walters said.

The cancellation follows an upset in the makeup of the board in February. Governor Stitt replaced three members, after rising political tensions about the focus of the board's duties and responsibilities.

New board members have expressed a desire to have more control over the agenda for board meetings. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of state representative passed House Bill 1491 off the floor; which would grant school board members, both at the state and local level, a pathway to getting an item placed on an agenda.

It heads to the State Senate for consideration, and if passed through the other chamber, would end up in the hands of Governor Stitt.

Also on Thursday, state lawmakers reacted to a report from Oklahoma Watch regarding bonuses paid out to certain employees in the State Department of Education. Oklahoma Watch pulled data from the state's open source website for government finances.

A department spokesperson provided no comment to News 9 about the bonuses, despite Minority Leader Cyndi Munson and Speaker Kyle Hilbert both, seemingly, taking issue with the raises.

"To hear an announcement that there are folks within OSDE that are getting raises when we have done nothing for teachers or support staff yet through the legislature is frustrating," Munson said during a general press availability.

Similarly, Speaker Hilbert told reporters during his availability, "Our education subcommittee — I am certain they will ask those questions and dig into that, and have more at that time."

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Previous coverage below:

One item on the agenda is the voluntary surrender of a Yukon Public School teacher's license after he was caught messaging an undercover adult who was posing as a 15-year-old.

Additionally, the agenda also contains a request from several districts to change the number of days in a school year.

The request asks the education department to lower the number of school days from 180 to 165.

Thursday's meeting was set to begin at 1 p.m.