The Wild, Wild Western Heights

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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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 board member consuming alcohol during a public meeting;
• a 23 percent drop in student enrollment, from 3,365 to 2,597 in the past year, and a loss of more than 100 staff members in the past two years;
• disharmony in the school environment and community.
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• In April the state board placed the district on probation and giving them 90 days to remedy the situation or face being annexed by the state board.
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• As you might have guessed, the district didn’t comply and instead they filed suit against the state board, So, in June the state board suspended the certificate of the superintendent, Mannix Barnes, and ordered the Western Heights district board to suspend him. The state also requested an investigative audit of the district.
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• At the next meeting in July, the state board approved a motion to amend the terms of the district probation to include “full state intervention” - basically to take over the administration of the district - for one year, to be reviewed every 90 days, with the option to engage with law enforcement as necessary to effectuate the intervention. That happened on Monday, July 12. Later that night, a parent found about 15 bags of shredded financial documents in a dumpster behind the administration building.
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• The next day, Tuesday July 13, the state board appointed Monty Guthrie to serve as interim superintendent for the western heights district.
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• The next day, Wednesday July 14th, news broke about the bags of shredded documents.
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• The district board president, Robert Everman - who, if you remember, is buddies with the recently ousted superintendent Mannix Barnes, did not like this so he scheduled another board meeting for two days later, Thursday, July 15th, at which the district board appointed their own assistant superintendent as their interim superintendent, which was in direct opposition to what the state told them not to do.  The district’s attorney, as you might imagine, argued that the state does not have the authority to appoint an interim superintendent.
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• Friday, July 16th, the state auditor and the state dept of education arrived on site to do initial site assessment for the audit. That was one hell of a week.
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• On August 6th News9 reported on emails between state-appointed superintendent Monty Guthrie and distinct-appointed superintendent Kim Race, in which Race tells Guthrie that the district’s attorney said they don’t have any space for him to work. News9 also reported on the facilities issues - leaks, mold, non-working air conditioning, etc. Only 2 of the district’s 24 buses passed inspection. Clearly, things were not good.
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• A week later, on August 12th, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Aletia Timmons ruled that Western Heights Public Schools must cede authority to the State Board of Education to oversee day-to-day operations of the district. THAT SAME DAY the district approved a $20,000 retainer for legal representation for former superintendent Mannix Barnes!
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• On August 26th the state board voted unanimously  to request the resignation of Western Heights district board chair Robert Everman. State board member Trent Smith said “[Robert Everman] is a scorn on your school district and a cancer in your midst, and he needs to be removed as soon as possible. I only regret that we can’t do more today.”
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• I hate to break it to you, but Everman did not step down. In fact, just last week he made headlines again in yet another bizarre manner.  State-appointed superintendent Monty Guthrie created & posted a meeting agenda for the Sept 10th district board meeting. Everman, still the board chair, also posted his own, competing agenda for the meeting. While they were similar in content, the items were in a different order, which was very confusing for members of the public who were in attendance. Also, as a reminder, back in July the state board took over the district and in August a court ruled in favor of the state. Despite that, the district board continues to do their own thing.
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• Two other things worthy of mention. 
• First, virtually every decision made by the western heights board has been a 4-1 vote; the lone dissenting vote is the newest member of the board, Brianna Flatley, who was elected in April.
• Second, according to NonDoc’s reporting, the relationship between former superintendent Mannix Barnes and district board chair Robert Everman goes back decades, and these two guys have been involved in a LOT of weird political & financial shenanigans. The attorney for the state board of education described the relationship between Barnes & Everyman as “an incestuous culture that’s ripe for the demise of an organization.”