Tulsa Public Schools' Separation Agreement With Dr. Gist Released

The separation agreement between Tulsa Public Schools and former superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist was released via an open records request on Tuesday.

The Tulsa School Board approved her resignation as superintendent last Wednesday, Aug. 23.

News On 6 requested these documents because the amount of money TPS spends on administration is one of the issues brought up by State Superintendent Ryan Walters.

The contracts show the base pay for Interim Superintendent Ebony Johnson and current Superintendent Deborah Gist is comparable to what Superintendents make in Oklahoma’s other large districts.

Records show Dr. Gist will receive a lump sum payment of $199,913.36, the equivalent of nine months of her current base salary.

The District will also provide up to $51,894.91 for unpaid vacation, $5,000 for COBRA insurance for six months, and a $50,000 annuity contribution. The contract says that money has to be paid to Gist no later than 45 days after she signed the agreement, which was on August 23.

The contracts show the base pay for Interim Superintendent Ebony Johnson and current Superintendent Deborah Gist is comparable to what Superintendents make in Oklahoma’s other large districts.

Contracts show right now, that Superintendent Deborah Gist makes about $267,000 per year.

Oklahoma City Public Schools says that’s the same amount its Superintendent makes.

TPS and OKCPS are comparable in size, State Department of Education data shows last school year, TPS had about 1,000 more students than OKCPS.

You can access the full Separation Agreement below.

The Employment agreement for interim superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson was also released. The contract is set for Sept. 16, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

Records show Dr. Johnson's base salary is set at $270,000, with $1,000 a month "for promotion of the district" expenses and $1,500 a month to offset costs of travel and maintaining a home office.

Gist became the first woman to be named Superintendent when she was hired in 2015. As a Tulsa native and graduate of Memorial High School, she returned to her hometown after serving as the commissioner of education for the state of Rhode Island.

Gist's final day with the district will be on Sept. 15th.

Some board members said they wished it would have never come to this, while others said the need for a change in leadership was long overdue. They all said they appreciated the support shown by people in Tulsa.

"There are people in this audience right now – not just our teachers, not just our parents, not just our people who have been here for 30 years, who are ready to fall down from exhaustion, but they are going to step back up tomorrow to make sure our kids have what they need and I just want to thank you all so very much," Woolley said.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters' main concern is with TPS' accreditation, which eventually resulted in Dr. Gist's resignation.

"My preference and what I'm going to demand for Tulsa Public Schools is that the next leader comes in with a serious plan to address reading proficiency rates for the elementary schools, a serious plan to get the schools there off of the F-list, and a serious plan to get their financial status in order," Walters said.

Walters has previously said he believes TPS spends too much on administration, saying 53% of the funds coming into the district go to administration.

TPS sent News On 6 a statement that says, “The state requires that no more than 5% of a school district budget be spent on administrative costs. In the 2022-2023 school year TPS spent only 4.03% of total expenses on administrative costs (inclusive of executive compensation). Some statements have misconstrued or mislabeled “non-instructional” costs as administrative, but the vast majority of “non-instructional” expenditures also directly benefit students. These "non-instructional" expenditures include such vital supports such as child nutrition (meals and cafeteria expenses), buses and transportation services, library media, student services, facility operations, maintenance, and school nurses and counselors. When comparing "Instruction Vs. Non-Instruction" spending, Tulsa Public Schools aligns very similarly with the state averages.”

Related Story: TPS Board Appoints Interim Superintendent Following Gist's Resignation

Dr. Johnson has been with Tulsa Public Schools for 18 years. She currently serves as the district’s Chief Learning Officer.

She joined the district in 2005. During that time, she has served as a teacher, coach, dean, assistant principal, and principal.

Dr. Johnson is a lifelong Tulsan. She graduated from McLain and earned her degrees from Northeastern State University and the University of Oklahoma.

In her resignation letter, Gist calls Johnson a stellar educator, strong leader, and remarkable human being.

"I am enthusiastic about the board’s plan to act upon the appointment of our colleague as interim superintendent. As you know, Dr. Johnson is a lifelong Tulsan, a stellar educator, a strong leader, and a remarkable human being. With the leadership of Dr. Johnson, our team will keep the work of our plan on track and will reach even higher," Dr. Gist said.

Ashley Blade-Martin is a TPS parent. Ashley said all of this makes her nervous for her kids and their education.

“(I'm) extremely anxious, I have to be honest, like I don’t know that he will believe or the state board will believe that Dr. Gist resigning is enough," Ashley said.

The strained relationship between Tulsa Public Schools and state leaders doesn't have a clear origin point, but tensions rose in 2021 when Governor Kevin Stitt criticized the district for its response to COVID-19 in his State of the State Address that February.

"It's now been 325 days since Tulsa students in 4th through 12th have been allowed to be in their classrooms," Stitt said.

Dr. Gist took those statements as an attack on TPS, calling the Governor a bully on social media. A year later, issues continued when school board members asked Governor Stitt to audit the district "and the potential mishandling of public funds."

The Governor also said the district might have violated House Bill 1775, which prohibits schools from teaching Critical Race Theory.

Shortly after that, the state school board voted to lower TPS's accreditation to Accreditation with Warning, despite objections from Dr. Gist.

"When House Bill 1775 was signed into law, we reviewed our curriculum for compliance and determined with confidence that we are," said Gist.

Their accreditation was brought up again this July, during a rally held by State Superintendent Ryan Walters, defending a TPS school board member's right to pray at graduation.