Oklahoma State Superintendent announces plan to ban diversity inclusion efforts in K-12 schools

OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Thursday his office will introduce a new administrative rule to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 schools.

At the State Board of Education’s monthly meeting, Walters also announced a new rule protecting prayer in schools and one that would amend the educators’ code of conduct in light of an Oklahoma City school district hiring an administrator who performs in drag after work hours.

Details on the proposed rules were scant because the measures were not publicly filed as of Thursday. Walters said he expects the rules will be publicly available Friday.

Mere hours before Walters announced the new rules, he and the State Board of Education were sued over an emergency rule regarding students’ gender markers on school records.

Walters’ plan to bar diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in public schools comes a week after Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order taking aim at DEI initiatives on college campuses and within state agencies.

Walters said his rule will prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion jobs, programs and curriculum in public schools.

“We will be eliminating any DEI programs from our K-12 institutions,” Walters said. “DEI should rightly be called discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination. We need to make sure our schools are focused on getting back to the basics, not focused on resources and programs that divide us.”

It was not immediately clear Thursday how prevalent diversity and inclusion initiatives are in public schools and which districts could be forced to make changes if this rule were to take effect.

A two-year-old state law that limits K-12 lessons on race and gender may have already forced some districts to rethink any diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The law, which is the subject of a lawsuit, prevents educators from making students feel discomfort or guilt based on their race or gender.

Walters said he’s also proposing a rule that would update the teacher code of conduct to say “sexual activity in public targeted towards kids” is inappropriate. He said the rule is a direct result of a district hiring an administrator who dresses as a drag queen during non-work hours.

Although he did not name the district, the rule appears to be a response to Western Heights Public Schools, which already is under investigation by the State Department of Education for hiring a principal who performs as a drag queen in his spare time.

Walters has repeatedly criticized the district’s hiring decision.

Walters also said he will introduce a rule that protects prayer in schools. Although he didn’t name any specific groups, Walters said the proposed rule is in response to out-of-state groups pushing back on school prayers.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation and Walters traded barbs after Prague Public Schools allegedly led daily prayers over the intercom during morning announcements. In a letter, the foundation’s attorneys told district administrations the First Amendment prohibits public schools from hosting or sponsoring prayers.

If the state Board of Education approves the proposed rules, they will go before the Oklahoma Legislature and Stitt for approval.

Board delays vote on gender changes

The board on Thursday also delayed a vote on making permanent a rule that requires school districts to get permission before authorizing a gender designation change on a student’s school records.

A new attorney for the State Board of Education asked for more time to review the proposed rule and the public comments submitted regarding the change.

The board adopted the emergency rule in September. In October, the board rejected requests from students in Cushing and Moore public schools to change their gender markers on school records despite court orders from district judges authorizing the changes.

The transgender Moore Public Schools student who was denied a records change sued the board on Thursday, alleging the rule is discriminatory and intentionally targets transgender students.

The plaintiff, who is named in the lawsuit as J. Doe, is represented by the Oklahoma Equality Law Center and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

“Walters and the State Board have repeatedly denied the existence of transgender students, insisting their genders are merely a fabrication of the ‘woke left,’” said Appleseed Center Executive Director Colleen McCarty. “This signaling from the board makes it clear their intent is gender discrimination against our client under Title IX which is supposed to prevent schools and educational bodies from discriminating on the basis of gender.”

Walters said he wasn’t surprised by the lawsuit. In response, he defended the rule on student record changes.

“Our pronoun policy aligns with common sense, truth, and reality and protects schools and teachers from unfounded accusations of discrimination,” Walters said in a statement. “This frivolous lawsuit, propped up by the extreme left, is an unserious distraction from the very serious business of improving Oklahoma schools for all our students.”

The board plans to vote on making the rule permanent at its January meeting.

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