Muskogee Public Schools pauses bond timeline amid city’s $29.25 million legal judgments

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Muskogee Public Schools is pausing its timeline for a future bond issue as the district waits to see how the City of Muskogee plans to address nearly $30 million in legal judgments.

The city is facing three legal judgments totaling $29.25 million, plus interest. City officials have previously said one option for paying the judgments could affect property taxes, although no tax increase has been approved.

Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall said that uncertainty is affecting the district’s plans.

“That really impacts what we can do on our end, so I felt like the wise thing to do is just pause until we know more about what the city is going to do with their lawsuit,” Mendenhall said.

Mendenhall said he did not want the district to move forward with a bond election while residents are still waiting to learn whether the city’s legal costs could affect their property taxes.

“I just didn’t feel good about putting a bond issue out there in the middle of all these issues that could impact the taxpayer at the end of the day,” Mendenhall said.

2 News Oklahoma reached out to the City of Muskogee about the district’s decision. The city said it would not be commenting at this time.

The pause comes as the district receives results from a community survey on a potential bond. About 500 people responded, and Mendenhall said the results were generally what district leaders expected, with most support centered on upgrades to elementary schools and Muskogee High School.

Earlier plans under consideration included rebuilding Cherokee and Irving elementary schools, renovations at other campuses and upgrades to technology, security and roofs.

“The work that we need to do on our end to identify those projects and make it all come to fruition, that work will continue,” Mendenhall said.

Mendenhall said the district is considering moving the bond election to April or possibly sometime during the summer of 2027.