OKLAHOMA CITY — New Oklahoma State Superintendent Lindel Fields is facing legal action left over from the previous administration.
Fields needs to file a status update in a lawsuit over Ryan Walters' Bible mandate by Oct. 28.
In a press release, Fields says he plans to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and the department has no plans to distribute Bibles or Biblical curriculum.
"We plan to file a motion to dismiss, and have no plans to distribute Bibles or a Biblical character education curriculum in classrooms. If resources are left to be allocated, the timing is fortunate since the team and I are currently reviewing the budget," Fields said.
Another reason they plan to tell the court is that there has been significant turnover at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, including former Superintendent Ryan Walters, who spearheaded the Bible mandate plan, and others named in the lawsuit, said Interim Communications Director Tara Thompson.
When asked whether dropping plans to mandate Bibles was a financial issue or a separation of church and state issue, Thompson said she believes Superintendent Fields stance is — neither.
“I think it’s less about taking a stance and giving control to local school boards and superintendents, and those communities,” said Thompson. “To have the schools reflect the values of those communities.”
The press conference lent itself to reporters getting updates on other issues like the status of PragerU partnerships. Since the leadership turnover, there have been many looming questions surrounding multiple controversial partnerships allegedly prompted by Walters.
“We have not yet been able to find a PragerU contract. We are continuing to investigate that because I’d like to give you a definitive answer,” said Thompson.
2 News asked if that meant there was a possibility contracts didn’t exist. Thompson reiterated it was too soon for a clear answer.
“A lot of statements were made publicly [by Walters] and now that we are doing our research and homework on that, we are finding maybe it wasn’t as presented,” she clarified.
The new leadership has mentioned multiple times that the immediate focus is not investigating or dismantling controversial programs, and that the immediate focus is finalizing the budget.
The Bible issue came up this week, Thompson said, due to a court-ordered response deadline.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- 2 News Oklahoma on your schedule | Download on your TV, watch for free. How to watch on your streaming device
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
