Amid an air tinged with disbelief, the Oklahoma City Board of Education agreed to part ways with its superintendent, who said he is leaving at the end of the school year over conflict with a board member.
The board voted 5-3 to accept Sean McDaniel’s resignation Thursday night. He will conclude his six-year tenure June 30 while the board searches for his replacement.
McDaniel and board members Adrian Anderson and Juan Lecona declined to comment after the meeting. The remaining six board members avoided reporters entirely by leaving through a back exit at the Clara Luper Center for Educational Services.
Anderson, Lecona and Carole Thompson opposed accepting McDaniel’s departure while Chairperson Paula Lewis, Vice Chairperson Lori Bowman, Cary Pirrong, Meg McElhaney and newly sworn-in member Dana Meister voted in favor.
Lewis issued a statement after the meeting through the district’s communications office, saying the board members are “deeply grateful” for McDaniel’s service and “hate to see him go.”
“His impact is sure to be felt for generations to come,” Lewis said. “The Board looks forward to finishing the school year together, as we begin the process to hire a new superintendent.”
McDaniel stunned district staff and the Oklahoma City community when he announced his resignation on Monday. The widely respected superintendent has been one of the district’s longest-tenured executives over the past three decades.
In public appearances over recent years, McDaniel and the board seemed to have had a relatively harmonious partnership — one that produced multiple milestones and long-awaited consistency at the top of the district.
During his tenure, Oklahoma City schools passed the largest bond issue in its history in 2022, endured the COVID-19 pandemic and right-sized its budget in 2019 with a massive school consolidation plan.
But behind the scenes, the relationship became strained. McDaniel’s resignation letter referenced “irreconcilable” differences with an unnamed school board member.
Disagreement between McDaniel and the board spilled over into the public realm in November when board members ignored his recommendation to reject a proposed new charter school. Instead, the board gave Oklahoma Montessori Initiative the green light to open in 2025.
McDaniel’s letter alleges the conflict escalated over the board member’s attempted involvement in daily administrative decisions, which are the responsibility of a superintendent, according to state law and administrative codes. School board members are meant to give visionary and policy direction to a district, not to direct day-to-day operations.
“As you know, a particular member of this Board and I have completely different views regarding individual board members’ roles and responsibilities and mine in serving this District,” McDaniel wrote. “For months, and in good faith I have tried to bridge that gulf through conversations with the board and with concessions I have been willing to make, but to no avail. I regret that our differing views of who should administer the District on a daily basis are now irreconcilable.”
Lewis’ statement did not address the allegation.
“As elected officials, each of us works hard to respect those who dedicate their lives to public education, while representing the values and voices of our community,” she said.
McDaniel’s resignation is a “great loss” for the school district, said Marilyn Luper Hildreth, daughter of local civil rights icon and former Oklahoma City teacher Clara Luper.
Luper Hildreth and other members of the Clara Luper Legacy Committee attended Thursday’s meeting in dismay at the superintendent’s impending departure.
“Sean McDaniel is one of the few people that has made himself visible to all the community,” Luper Hildreth told Oklahoma Voice. “He’s been in churches. He’s been in schools. He’s been in meetings. I’ve seen him take the heat from the community, but he stood in there and tried to make a difference.”
He has been one of a “very few” to come to the historically Black northeast side of Oklahoma City “to check on the needs of our children,” said Joyce Jackson, a member of the legacy committee who took part in the sit-in movement Luper led.
“He’s taken the time to talk to people and find out what the concerns are and talk directly to the people to get their idea of what’s what’s needed,” Jackson said. “I think he’s done a great job at reaching out to all of the communities.”
Teachers were left with “lots of emotion” leading into Thursday’s meeting, said Torie Pennington, president of the Oklahoma City AFT, the bargaining association for the district’s teachers.
The organization voiced its gratitude for McDaniel’s “stability and unwavering service” to Oklahoma City schools in a statement Wednesday.
“We have complete confidence in the OKCPS Board of Education’s ability to select the next superintendent to continue the district’s vision and mission,” the group said. “Working together, we believe OKCPS has a bright future.”
The timeline to hire McDaniel’s successor is up to the school board, but the process could take months, said Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.
OSSBA will help market the job opening nationally, and the position likely will attract interest from Oklahoma district superintendents, as well, Hime said.
McDaniel offered to stay through the end of June to maintain continuity while the board leads the search, his letter states.
“It has been a great honor to serve this wonderful community for the past six years,” he wrote. “I have made many friends here and my affection for this District, its students, staff, and patrons will long abide.”
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
