OKLAHOMA CITY — After 30 minutes of feedback and glitches Thursday morning, the October meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education was canceled.
Under the COVID-related amendments to the state’s Open Meeting Act adopted in March, once a public entity posts its agenda that specifies whether the meeting will be conducted in person or via teleconference, it is not allowed to change the attendance method.
As has been the case since spring, Thursday’s agenda specifically stated that the meeting would be conducted via videoconference, prompting multiple unsuccessful attempts to connect the board members’ Zoom call first to Facebook Live, then to YouTube.
Board members were allowed to physically be at the meeting site. However, because the posted agenda stated that the meeting would be held via videoconference, no business could legally be conducted without the streaming feed even if a quorum were to physically gather together.
As of noon Tuesday, a makeup date for the meeting has not yet been announced.
With pediatric cases accounting for more than 10% of all cases statewide, among the items listed on the agenda were a presentation from the Oklahoma Department of Health and possible action regarding the education community’s response to COVID-19. As of press time, Oklahoma has added 43,926 new cases just in the month of October.
Along with 302 emergency certification requests, also on the agenda were new applications from Altus Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy to participate in the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program.
The program allows public school students with an individual education plan or receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to use tax dollars as a scholarship towards an approved private school. There are currently 65 approved sites across the state, including two in southwestern Oklahoma: Lawton Christian School and Corn Bible Academy.
Both schools previously applied to participate in the program but were rejected in September because they did not meet the anti-discrimination requirements laid out in federal law for entities receiving public dollars. Among the protected categories under federal discrimination statutes are religion and sexual orientation, both of which were omitted from the schools’ non-discrimination statements included in their initial applications.
In the subsequent application packet, Altus Christian Academy included a sworn affidavit from its board president, Lori Clinton, that the school does not discriminate against student applicants based on their religion or sexual orientation. However, a copy of the faculty/staff handbook included with the school’s application states that faculty members shall be “spiritually mature Christians” who have demonstrated their commitment to a local church through attendance, membership and support.