Last Updated on February 27, 2024, 8:49 AM | Published: February 27, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — In his resignation letter, OKCPS Supt. Sean McDaniel cited conceptual disagreements with one board member as “irreconcilable” and the reason for his decision to resign.
District public relations staff issued an email announcement from Board Chair Paula Lewis about McDaniel’s resignation Monday morning.
McDaniel will remain in the position through June 30, the end of the district‘s administrative and fiscal year.
Free Press has obtained the resignation letter.
Differences about role of Board members
Even though the phrase “‘irreconcilable’ differences” has been used widely in media reports over the first day after his announced resignation, the phrase itself, normally used in divorce proceedings, is not found in McDaniel’s letter.
The reasoning is much more involved than just an inability to get along and has to do with fundamental differences in concepts about the role of board members.
“As you know, a particular member of this Board and I have completely different views regarding individual board members’ roles and responsibilities and mine in serving this District,” wrote McDaniel in the terse resignation letter.
“For months, and in good faith I have tried to bridge that gulf through conversations with the board and with concessions I have been willing to make, but to no avail,” the statement continued.
And, then, this is the key language McDaniel used: “I regret that our differing views of who should administer the District on a daily basis are now irreconcilable.”
The concept of a school board is that the board members have authority as a convened group but not individual authority in the day-to-day operation of the district.
Open question about which board member
The biggest and most obvious question still remaining is: Which of the board members was McDaniel referring to?
McDaniel did not respond to requests from Free Press to name that board member. And, no one else in the district would respond to questions about who that individual is.
Two former board members contacted by Free Press were guarded in their statements about the issue and would not say which board member McDaniel was referring to.
Since it is also technically a personnel issue, current board members have been reluctant to enter into the conversation about the disagreement.
The resignation letter
The following is the confirmed resignation letter from McDaniel to the district delivered to board members Monday.
Sean-McDaniel-Resignation-Letter-Feb-26-2024Free Press will continue to follow developments as the board begins the search for a new superintendent.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
