Cert issue resolved for high-level OKCPS administrator

Last Updated on June 28, 2019, 5:25 PM | Published: October 5, 2017

Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Human Resources department was sent scrambling recently when one of the district’s Twitter critics caught a discrepancy about certification of a high-level administrator.

Well that’s odd. Assistant superintendent in #okcps with no certification? ? @okcps @RLBudd2 @millicanokc @paulalewisokcps pic.twitter.com/STojXu0b15

— The Whistle (@JusTheFaks) October 2, 2017

OKCPS has now confirmed with Free Press that Chief Academic Officer Lynn Barnes is not an assistant/associate superintendent as listed in their Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS) 2016 School Personnel Report to the Oklahoma department of education.

“Lynn Barnes is our Chief Academic Officer, and her position does not require a Superintendent certificate,” said an OKCPS prepared statement.

Barnes has five certifications, but not one that would allow her to be any type of superintendent.

Coding error

District representative Beth Harrison and Janis Perrault, district chief human resources officer both confirmed in an email exchange with Free Press that the problem was a coding error in the report.

They said district HR staff are now clear about how Barnes’ information will be coded on the 2017 OCAS personnel report.

Deana Silk, assistant director of communications with SDE, confirmed to Free Press that the 2016 report error has been corrected at the state level.

Certification sensitivity

The metro public is sensitive to certification issues with OKCPS administrators who have been brought in from other states.

Barnes came to OKCPS from Texas.

It was discovered June 2016 that Aurora Lora had been hired and working as an associate superintendent for two years, and then acting superintendent without her state superintendent certificate.

The issue was resolved when Lora took her exam and received her Oklahoma superintendent certificate.

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