State School Boards Association To Help With OKCPS Superintendent Search

New information was released Monday evening about the search for a new superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS).

Board members voted to go into executive session to discuss the position. And they spent about an hour behind closed doors. When they came back out into open session, they voted to accept Aurora Lora’s separation agreement. News 9 requested a copy of this agreement.

For the first time since Lora stepped down, acting superintendent Rebecca Kaye gave the superintendent's update at the board meeting.

“That’s kind of the message for this evening is that the work continues,” she said.

Kaye has been at the helm since Lora resigned last month.

“There’s a lot of trauma in this organization because there’s been so much turmoil in leadership and a lot of times in the past, new leaders have come in and kind of thrown out the baby with the bath water,” Kaye told News 9. “And the exciting thing about this time is that the board has committed that that’s not going to happen and they’ve told us that we are moving in the right direction.”

At the meeting, Board Chair Paula Lewis said she is appointing a board committee of four members to provide a recommendation to the full board regarding the hiring of a new Superintendent. They expect to review and vote on that at a future meeting.

“So basically what that’s saying is that there will be a process and we will have community involvement once it comes down to our board deciding how we are going to move forward in the superintendent selection process.

District officials also announced the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) will facilitate the recruitment process on behalf of the board as they continue to move forward with the hiring of a new Superintendent.

“We are honored that the Oklahoma City School Board has selected OSSBA to assist with its superintendent search. This decision will impact the lives of 46,000 Oklahoma City children, and we’re privileged to have the opportunity to help the school district and community as it begins a new chapter,” said OSSBA Executive Director Shawn Hime.