TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Public Schools' executive director of communications told local media Feb. 13 the district still does not have full findings from a state audit.
Two days before, State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd held a press conference in Oklahoma City yet refrained from announcing the audit's results, citing TPS invoking a state statute.
- Previous coverage>>> AUDIT UNDER SEAL: State completes TPS audit, but state law keeps results secret for up to two weeks
The audit of TPS was first requested Gov. Kevin Stitt and TPS Board of Education members E'lena Ashley and Dr. Jennettie Marshall in 2022.
The most known at this point is from November when a court found former TPS talent manager Devin Fletcher guilty of embezzling almost $600,000 in district foundation funds.
"We were – on Tuesday, had the opportunity to visit with the members of the auditor's team when we received a brief PowerPoint overview of what we believe will be the anticipated findings of the audit," Caroline Crouch said Feb. 13. "But to date we have not received a complete copy of the audit."
The state auditor's office sent 2 News a statement disputing that there was a shortage of sufficient info from the audit results.
“The State Auditor’s Office presented the findings to the Superintendent and the Board Members.
They have been given ample opportunity to respond to our findings.
If they want to submit additional documentation, they are welcome to do so at any time.”
The statement did not address the issue of a state statute, which delays the public release of findings until 14 days after the state auditor has reviewed it with TPS superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson and the school board.
"As far as we're concerned this is not anything someone has to invoke or call for," Crouch said. "It is a law that has been on the books since 1999, and I think frankly most of the folks who were involved in this process were working with the assumption that that would be the process applied."
Crouch told 2 News TPS school board members have also been involved in conversations with the state auditor's office from the beginning, but they too were surprised by Byrd's press conference planning to announce the results.
"And we want to make sure that this information gets out, but we also have to follow the law," TPS Board of Education vice president John Croisant told 2 News.
Croisant coincidentally announced his candidacy for U.S. House of Representatives the day before, but will continue to serve his term on the school board.
"There's a lot in (the audit) that we've already worked on and we've fixed, but we do want to make sure if there's anything that needs to be addressed then we address it."
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