BIXBY, Okla. — Superintendent of Bixby Public Schools Rob Miller said he and his district deserve an apology.
Miller came under fire at the state board of education meeting when State Superintendent Ryan Walters was asked to respond to his questions about Title I funding.
We first reported Miller's concerns on July 31:
"Rob’s a clown and a liar," said Walters. "He knows every year when he gets Title I funds in. We’re dealing with all kinds of financial problems with his district that we’re having to address right now."
Miller has been in education for over three decades.
His ask was to get an estimate ahead of the school year so he could finalize staffing and resources. That was the practice that Miller had been accustomed to.
"In my experience, and I provided you with a document from May of 2022, that was a preliminary allocation of Title I funds for schools," he said. "Why has that practice stopped under his administration? That really is the question for him to answer."
This back and forth began when Miller took to social media to ask questions about when he could expect Title I funding estimates.
2 News asked Superintendent Walters when districts could anticipate receiving those preliminary allocations.
“Same time every year – late August," he said. "Same way it’s been every year, my team tells me, for over a decade. He knows that. It’s been communicated to districts. Rob’s never reached out. Never indicated there was an issue, there’s not an issue. He made it up.”
Miller said up until 2022, he received a notice in May of how much federal support his district would receive for that fiscal year.
He shared that email he received from the State Department of Education two years ago.
After the personal comments Walters made about him, again, Miller took to social media.
“The personal attacks, calling me a clown or an embarrassment, that’s just juvenile and I don’t know how else to frame that," he said. " I think the people of Oklahoma expect better of their elected leaders.”
Walters said that Miller has never reached out or notified him that there has been an issue with the funding.
Miller said that's not the full story.
“We’ve never communicated at all," said Miller. "I have sent him several emails over the time that he’s been in office and never gotten a response.”
However, Miller did explain that he has called the Office of Title Services, which is run by Walters's director. Miller said they've been calling the last several weeks to get a timeline for allocations and haven't heard back.
At the board meeting, Walters also raised attention to financial issues within Bixby Public Schools.
“He may have mixed us up with another district," said Miller. "We had a clean audit, we have a high bond rating, there is nothing going on with Bixby Public Schools and our budgeting and fiscal house is in good order."
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