Oklahoma board rejects judge’s advice to keep Summer Boismier’s teaching license intact

State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks during a State Board of Education meeting on Aug. 24, 2023, in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Brent Fuchs/For Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top school board has voted to ignore a judge’s finding that former Norman teacher Summer Boismier should keep her teaching license after posting a link in her classroom to an online library containing banned books.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education on Thursday unanimously voted to reject the judge’s recommendation and instead instructed its own attorney to put together a list of findings, signaling the board members could vote to revoke Boismier’s certification despite being advised against it.

Both Boismier and her attorney, Brady Henderson, denounced the state board’s actions.

“More than a year after Summer Boismier prevailed in her administrative hearing where her accuser failed to prove that she had broken any law, a group of political appointees chose to disregard that result and use their power to make a second attempt to revoke Boismier’s teaching certificate regardless of there being no legitimate factual or legal basis for doing so,” Henderson said.

The board’s attorney will present the report next month to highlight evidence and testimony “that reflect a decision to revoke the teaching certificate of Summer Boismier,” board member Katie Quebedeaux said while reading aloud the directive.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education has pursued revocation on the grounds that among the thousands of books in the catalog, some have sexual content. The teacher has said she never recommended any specific book in the collection.

Boismier said the decision sends “yet another chilling message to teachers, students and the entire state of Oklahoma.”

“The board’s action today means that this fight for free expression will soon move to the courts, where I am confident our rights will be restored and the board’s wrongs rectified,” she said.

After a June 2023 hearing, a judge found the state Department of Education failed to prove Boismier deserved to have her certification taken away, though the state board makes the final decision. Revocation is a penalty typically applied to teachers facing criminal charges, unlike Boismier.

But state Superintendent Ryan Walters said he views his administration’s case for revocation as “pretty open and shut.”

“We’ve heard from parents all over the state,” he said after the meeting. “They don’t want indoctrination in their schools. They want to make sure teachers are obeying the law.”

Walters accused Boismier of breaking state law and attempting to  “push inappropriate material.” However, the teacher and her former school district maintain she never violated the law nor faced any disciplinary action. She has not been charged with a criminal offense.

Boismier has been a target of Walters’ since she resigned from Norman High School in August 2022 in protest of a state law banning certain race and gender concepts from the classroom. The law prompted Norman Public Schools to have teachers remove books from their classrooms until each title could be reviewed.

Boismier made national news at the time when, rather than taking down her books, she covered her shelves with red paper that read, “Books the state doesn’t want you to read.” She also placed QR code links to the Books Unbanned program at the Brooklyn Public Library, which gives teenagers access to its catalog nationwide.

Walters, who at the time was a political candidate running for state superintendent, called for her certification to be revoked because “there is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom.”

Since her resignation, Boismier moved to New York to work at the Brooklyn library.

She is suing Walters in Oklahoma City federal court, contending he personally owes her $75,000 or more for defamation, slander, libel and false representation.

More than a dozen other educators had their teaching licenses suspended or revoked on Thursday. Most of the affected teachers are facing criminal charges, ranging from first-degree murder to child abuse.

Board suspends Kingfisher coaches

Two of the cases stemmed from an alleged hazing scandal within the Kingfisher High School football program, which has made statewide headlines for more than two years.

The board suspended the license of former head coach Jeff Myers, who was charged in October with felony child neglect. It also accepted the surrendered teaching license of Micah Nall, another former Kingfisher coach facing felony charges of child abuse and perjury.

Myers is accused of ignoring boxing and wrestling matches that took place in his locker room — incidents a former player said were abusive. The former player, Mason Mecklenburg, sued in 2022 and won a $5 million settlement from Kingfisher Public Schools.

Mecklenburg’s father, Justin Mecklenburg, thanked the board for doing what the Kingfisher district and the former Education Department administration had not by suspending Myers’ certification.

“As a parent, you expect that your child will be safe from harm under the supervision of adult teachers and coaches,” Mecklenburg said. “Our son, Mason, along with many other student athletes, endured years of hazing, physical and verbal abuse, and instances of sexual assault under the supervision of Coach Myers. We are hopeful that today’s action will prevent future students from enduring the pain and torture our son experienced.”

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