Local news stations are reporting that a third executive-level employee in the state schools is no longer working for Superintendent Ryan Walters.
KFOR News 4 Oklahoma reported Friday that it has heard from multiple sources that Oklahoma State Department of Education Chief of Staff Jenna Thomas resigned earlier this week. The Oklahoman could not immediately confirm this report.
Dan Isett, communications director for the state Department of Education, told The Oklahoman in a text Saturday morning.
“We are not talking about personnel issues and there are no changes to the role of the agency head.”
The Oklahoman was trying to reach Thomas Saturday morning.
If Thomas does indeed resign, her departure would be the third high-profile resignation to affect Walters' administration since he took office in early 2023 and earlier this month.
March 1 was Ryan Pieper's last day on the job, the agency's executive director of accreditation. He confirmed to The Oklahoman that he and the department's general counsel, Brian Cleveland, are stepping down from their positions.
The Walters administration is currently embroiled in a number of controversial issues.
Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall on March 18 following reports that Walters' agency spent $30,000 hiring an outside public relations firm to set up national media interviews for the superintendent. , said the Legislature would consider placing limits on Walters' agency's ability to spend state funds on personal promotions. .
Walters' agency is also defending a lawsuit filed against Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education by Moore Public Schools students seeking to change pronouns on their school records.
The students' request violates a policy approved by the state board in January that prohibits school districts and local schools from “changing the sex or gender designation of past student records” without permission.
Meanwhile, Walters' legal team was denied entry this month in a lawsuit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court seeking to overturn the creation of Oklahoma's first religious charter school. His agency unsuccessfully sought permission to argue in the case three times.
An advocacy group known as the Human Rights Campaign also recently launched a “Get Rid of Ryan Walters” campaign featuring websites opposed to his administration.
Should Mr. Thomas' resignation raise concerns about the direction of the agency under Mr. Walters?
While turnover is common in any state government agency when elected leadership changes, the number of departures at the Department of Education, especially this year, has been surprising.
In his role as the agency's Executive Director of Accreditation, Mr. Pieper and as the agency's general counsel, Mr. Cleveland assumed significant responsibilities impacting both the agency and the school systems it serves.
If Thomas also resigns, it would mean the agency would be without a CEO to run day-to-day operations until the position is filled.
Approximately 86 employees have left the company between Walters' appointment and September 2023.
It wasn't clear whether they quit or were fired, but what is clear is that they represent a wide range of positions, departments, and seniority levels.
Those who left during Walters' first year in office include Terry Grissom, who spent five years writing competitive federal grant applications for the state Department of Education, crisis counseling, suicide and bullying prevention and school climate; , which included Michelle Strain, whose work focused on homelessness. student services, etc.
“I think this will have a direct impact on the type and amount of services that we can provide to schools,” Strain said of his resignation after stepping down last year.
“I don't know all the positions that were filled, but I can tell you that even before I left, when we lost people in the department, for some reason it meant a decline in service.”
