KRMG In-Depth: Several Oklahoma school districts will refuse to comply with Walters’ Bible mandate

In late June, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced that he had issued a mandate requiring lessons be taught from the Bible in all public classrooms across the state, grades 5 through 12.

Backlash was swift and fierce, as civil rights organizations, teachers, parents, and educational officials lined up to decry the move.

[ Hear the KRMG In-Depth report on Bixby Schools and the Bible mandate HERE ]

In the intervening weeks, lawsuits have been filed - a move Walters seems to welcome, and which some have opined was the purpose of the mandate from the beginning.

A number of the state’s largest districts came out this week to announce specifically that they would not comply with the attempted mandate; thus far, KRMG has been unable to identify any district which publicly states that it will comply.

Rob Miller, Superintendent of Bixby Public Schools, notified staff and parents this week that the district will continue to follow current law, the Oklahoma Academic Standards, and any number of Supreme Court decisions - not Walters’ order.

“I felt it was important to provide some clarity for our teachers and our families here in Bixby that we’re not changing anything,” Miller said Friday. “We’re going to continue to teach the standards. We’re going to continue to applaud religious freedom in our schools, and support our students’ rights to do that. And we’re going to comply with the existing Supreme Court and state precedent when it comes to religious freedom in schools.”

He said there’s a false narrative that educators want to remove religion and the Bible from the schools.

“This notion that we’re trying to push religion out, or push the Bible out, is really a false narrative that just needs to be set aside,” Miller said, noting that Bixby gives students a minute of silence for prayer or reflection each day, and that students and teachers are encouraged to bring Bibles with them if they wish, engage in religious conversations, or teach lessons from Scripture - all allowable under current law, local policy, and state educational standards.

He points out that - at least in Bixby - Bible lessons aren’t exactly a top priority for parents.

“I’m not hearing from parents in our community about getting more religious training in our schools,” Miller said. “What our parents want, more than anything else, is a caring, competent, high quality teacher in every classroom, and that’s where our focus continues to be.”