There's been considerable trouble in the Western Heights school district over the last couple of years...and "trouble" doesn't begin to describe it. Thanks to strong journalism by the folks at NonDoc and others, we were able to put together a pretty comprehensive timeline for you, which we'll detail in this episode (it is included below with links to all the stories). Remember: local elections matter.
Timeline for Western Heights
- In October 2019, 15 employees resigned, ranging from bus drivers to the assistant superintendent, citing ongoing issues of mismanagement at all levels of the district.
- Two weeks later, still in October 2019, parents in the district requested an investigation into the district for these issues, and specifically wanted an investigation into Superintendent Mannix Barnes, his $220,000 per year salary, and the fact that the chair of the WH school board, Robert Everman, is his former employee when they worked at a casino. (Which is obviously directly useful knowledge for running a school district, right?)
- Before we go on, you’ve got to hear about the compensation package superintendent Mannix Barnes had at the time. And, again, remember that he had no experience as a superintendent when he was hired by the district just a couple of years ago. Barnes’ contract with Western Heights included:
- A $220,000 base salary with a $75,000 retention bonus effective June 15, 2022;
- 20 days of unpaid leave for outside activities;
- Reasonable time off and pay for professional growth and community involvement;
- 25 semester credit hours annually to further education;
- Membership for community organizations including the Chamber of Commerce;
- 40 vacation days per year;
- 20 sick days per year;
- 20 personal business leave days per year.
- We’ll do the math for you: that’s a minimum of 100 days of paid leave. The district only has 167 instructional days.
- Anyway, in April 2020, the WH district got into hot water with the state board of education when the district unilaterally decided to suspend the free meal program during the pandemic, despite the fact that 90% of the distinct’s students qualify. The superintendent said some pretty inflammatory things about state superintendent Joy Hofmeister and OKC Mayor David Holt, including using the phrase “I double dare those two to come down here” and threatened to sue the state board.
- Nearly a year later in March of this year, the state board of education expressed “utmost concern” about the operation of Western Heights Public Schools and threatened to end their accreditation, mentioning multiple issues, including:
- failure to provide in-person instruction since March 2020;
- a decision in the spring of 2020 not to provide nutritional services to students;
- an audit report showing violations of state law, including the use of 2018 bond proceeds meant for contracting and repairing facilities to pay off debt instead;
- a
