Last Updated on February 29, 2024, 9:35 PM | Published: February 29, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — It was a 5-3 vote by the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education to accept Superintendent Sean McDaniel’s resignation Thursday.
McDaniel’s resignation is effective June 30, the end of the fiscal year. He will continue to lead the district’s day-to-day operations as the Board searches for the district’s next superintendent.
If a new superintendent is not hired by June 30, then an interim superintendent will be hired while the search/hiring process is completed.
McDaniel submitted his resignation letter Monday morning.
Divided Board
Three of the Board members refused to go along with McDaniel’s resignation. They were:
- Carol Thompson, Board Dist. 1
- Adrian Anderson, Board Dist. 5
- Juan Lecona, Board Dist. 6
All three had won their board seats during the superintendency of McDaniel.
Those who voted to accept the resignation were:
- Paula Lewis, Board Chair
- Lori Bowman, Vice-Chair and Board Dist. 2
- Cary Pirrong, Board District 3
- Dana Meister, Board District 4 (sworn in the same evening, first public vote)
- Meg McElhaney, Board District 7
After adjournment, Lecona left quickly and Anderson seemed visibly upset.
None of the board members were allowed to answer any questions. McDaniel declined to do any interviews before or after the meeting.
Lingering mystery
From the beginning, an obvious question was which one of the board members was McDaniel referring to when he wrote that he had encountered “irreconcilable” disagreements about the authority of individual board members.
As much as anyone outside of the board members and district comms staff know, is that there was a persistent disagreement in concept about the authority of individual board members in the day-to-day operations of the district.
Beyond that, it is still a mystery although that has not stopped speculation about who it might be.
OSSBA hired once again to conduct search
As was the case with the search that ended with the hiring of McDaniel six years ago, the Oklahoma State School Boards Association staff will conduct the search.
OSSBA Executive Director Shawn Hime told Free Press after the meeting that the core of the process is the same as it was the last time even though technological advances will allow more access to Board members as applicants’ information is gathered.
“The school belongs to the community,” said Hime. “So, we start there with meetings and surveys of all sorts.”
Hime said that the last time, they met with groups of persons who know the community. They met with a ministerial alliance, and Chamber of Commerce groups, as well as many other organizations of people who are a part of the fabric of the community.
The technology will now allow questionnaires applicants fill out to be accessed by board members who will be given logins and will establish secure passwords so that they don’t have to wait for the next meeting to look over paper packets as in years past.
Now the search begins.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
