TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education held a special board meeting one day after the long awaited audit results into the district were released.
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FINDINGS: State Auditor says employee's misconduct symptom of larger problem
“I think it’s one thing as a district if we tried to cover something up. This whole thing was started because we discovered something as a district, and we took action," said TPS BOE Vice President John Croisant.
Oklahoma State Auditor Cindy Byrd dug into the district's financial records, policies and regulations between 2015 and 2023.
Her findings showed misappropriations of funds, a culture of non-compliance and a lack of transparency.
With some issues spanning back nearly a decade, Croisant voiced concerns that efforts made to right some of these issues were not taken into account.
“Could some of the things that they’re talking about in the findings have been things that we have had mistakes on and then corrected as we went along?” he said. "Before this audit in '22 was asked for, was there any time where we didn't address and fix the financial discrepancies that they wanted us to fix?"
The board's CFO said no.
TPS Superintendent Ebony Johnson did acknowledge that Byrd did recognize work the district has done over the last two years to improve it's weak points.
BOE President Stacey Woolley initially reacted to the audit, calling the press conference to release results one of political gain. She maintained frustration at the special meeting.
Woolley said she and her board were more than compliant with the audit along the way, so they were blindsided to hear a public complaint stating otherwise.
“We had said to them that if there are any issues getting any information.. if the administration is not giving you what you need as you need it, please come to us because as board members, we will push on that," said Woolley. "Not once, did any of us hear any complaints, so to hear a public complaint about the administration not providing documents or intentially misleading was very disappointing."
- PREVIOUS REPORT >>> AUDIT UNDER SEAL: State completes TPS audit, but state law keeps results secret for up to two weeks
Woolley said she has reached out to the auditor's office about that issue, and hasn't heard back.
The board also voted to accept the resignation of TPS employee Chris Hudgins. He was named in the audit as a manager of the district's bond budgets.
Being a personnel matter, the board did not disclose much on the situation surrounding Hudgins. 2 News was told there was a conflict of interest with a company of his own and his work within TPS.
“When we heard about Chris Hudgins, everyone in the room with me let out an audible gasp," said Woolley. There was no one in that room who was not completely shocked and disappointed. I probably shouldn’t say much more because I’m sure its under investigation, but it was definitely surprising, disappointing and anxiety provoking quite frankly.”
Croisant said he took issue with the way the information was presented to the board.
"They acted like we should have already known, but they never told us," he said. "They’ve known about it for a long time, and didn’t make it clear to the district that a person working in the district, there may be an issue. And I have a problem with that as well. That is not transparency.”
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