OKLAHOMA CITY — State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd said an audit on Tulsa Public Schools' bond department found more than $3.7 million misspent and mismanaged under executive director of bond and emergency management Chris Hudgins, who was charged in June.
- Previous coverage>>> UNDERSTANDING THE ACCUSATIONS: Former TPS employee, two others accused of stealing bond money
In a brief presentation Aug. 18 inside the Oklahoma State Capitol, auditor Byrd laid out her office's investigation into about ten years of Hudgins' more than two decades at the district in which he reportedly used his role to enrich his architectural firm, M&G Consulting.
"At the direction of the former bond director, the engineering firm submitted falsified invoices," Byrd said. "And because the district had allowed the bond director to exercise almost unilateral control over vendor invoice review and payment authorization, their scheme was successful.”
WATCH: Auditor: $3.7 million in TPS bond money was mismanaged by former employee
A still active-investigation was announced in June when Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler alleged Hudgins orchestrated hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to his and his partners' own engineering firms while roofing, HVAC, and other school improvement projects went unaccounted for.
However, that figure was around $780,000.
Byrd said her office found millions more dollars misspent.
“Through this scheme, the engineering firm obtained more than $58,000 in fees while the bond director’s company received two and a half million dollars," the state auditor said.
- WATCH: State Auditor Byrd's full remarks announcing TPS audit results
Full audit results presentation on Tulsa Public Schools bond money misspending
Unlike in February 2025 when the first TPS audit findings were announced, the results on Aug. 18 were already reviewed by district leadership and board members, Byrd told 2 News. Hudgins resigned from the district after the first audit's findings.
Tulsa Public Schools sent a statement to 2 News in response to the Aug. 18 announcement, attributed to Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson:
Tulsa Public Schools is grateful to the state auditor and her team for their exhaustive investigation into past wrongdoing related to fraud perpetrated against the district. TPS intends to pursue all legal remedies to receive full restitution in this matter.
“We have cooperated fully with the state auditor and her team and heeded all guidance offered to us by law enforcement throughout this investigation, including the addition of safeguards to ensure the district has more transparency in its financial reporting protocols,” Dr. Ebony Johnson, Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent, said. “Our students and our school communities deserve every dollar meant for them. We intend to fight to ensure the district is made whole and remain fully committed to supporting all relevant agencies pursuing justice in this matter.”
TPS Board of Education member John Croisant, also a Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress, issued this statement:
Some of the findings in this audit go back to 2015. I can only speak to the time I have been on the board starting in July 2020. I can say that the board implemented more sound accounting practices based on an external audit in the spring of 2021 and has implemented every recommendation by both auditors and investigators since I have been a part of the board. Under the direction of Superintendent Johnson, and even before the findings from the state auditor's office in early 2025, Tulsa Public Schools instituted multiple layers of additional financial reporting and transparency. The State Auditor and others have lauded the district for the improvements made in financial transparency and oversight. Some of these additional measures include: The district overhauled its finance and procurement process; added an internal audit function; restructured its finance division to improve internal controls; modified its encumbrance report and monthly expenditure report; implemented fraud detection software; revised processes for working with the Foundation for Tulsa Schools; and more.
AG Drummond said the results are more damning than previously known:
“This audit confirms what our June charges already made clear – bond dollars meant to repair and improve Tulsa schools were instead treated as someone's personal piggy bank. I thank Auditor Byrd and her staff for their diligence in building out this record. My office is reviewing the full audit now, and we are not finished. Additional charges are on the table.”
State Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, a former TPS Board of Education president, did not respond to 2 News' request for comment on Aug. 18.
Byrd closed the press conference by announcing an auditing bootcamp hosted this fall for any school boards across the state to take part in.
Read the full audit's findings here.
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