OKLAHOMA CITY — During what was likely the shortest Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting of Superintendent Ryan Walters’ tenure, the board either “tabled” or “took no action” on much of the agenda.
From the start, it seemed evident that the ongoing disagreement with Attorney General Gentner Drummond was a major reason for the unproductive meeting.
The board was scheduled to discuss approving the 2025 Capital Improvements Project, the fate of several teaching certificates, and more.
Instead, in a last-minute force of hand from Drummond, they met Brad Clark — the board’s new, for now, counsel.
Drummond denied the request to retain the previous counsel the board preferred, Cara Nicklaus.
“At some point, the contract was renewed, and a decision was made to deny that request, and so that letter was sent yesterday,” said Clark. He was notified on the morning of Oct. 24 of his new role.
Questions began firing at Clark over a possible conflict of interest between the board and the AG’s office.
“We’ve had instances this year where the attorney general’s office is taking a position that made some of us concerned,” said Sarah Lepak, board member.
Walters began laying the groundwork for board members to table agenda items.
“If the board doesn’t feel that they were able to address concerns with legal counsel, there are items here we can take ‘no action’ on,” he said.
Some run-of-the-mill items were approved, but largely, “take no action” and “table” echoed throughout the meeting.
2 News obtained documents from the attorney general's office that shed some light on the board’s possible resistance to their new counsel.
Correspondence shows previous attorney Nicklaus clashed with Drummond over whether lawmakers could legally attend executive sessions. Nicklaus told Drummond they should not.
2 News covered this issue at the state board for several months.
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In a letter, Drummond told Nicklaus she had a “brazen disregard for sound counsel,” and that they must allow legislators to attend executive sessions.
Instead, in recent months, the board has simply avoided holding executive sessions.
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