During the period of 2016 to 2020 five teachers employed by Oologah-Talala School District have had their teaching certificates suspended or revoked by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. The OSDE took action to either suspend or revoke all five of the teachers’ certificates on the basis they each engaged in inappropriate teacher-student sexual misconduct. The administration remains unchanged for this duration.

On October 10, 2019 the OSDE wrote Superintendent Max Tanner and the Board of Education requiring their attendance at the October 24, 2019 State Board of Education meeting to address concerns of the ongoing frequency of such inappropriate teacher-student interactions. The OSDE stated,

…the suspension/revocation of the teaching certificates of four teachers in the same district, within three years, all related to misconduct with students, is certainly cause for concern by the State Board of Education. It appears there may be a systemic culture within the district of disregard for students' and parents' voiced concerns; there seems to be at best an apparent lack of institutional control in identifying and removing bad actors.

Eleven (11) days after appearing before the State Board of Education, Superintendent Max Tanner received a parental complaint of another incident of inappropriate teacher-student sexual misconduct. He failed to properly investigate or take action.

Superintendent Max Tanner lacks the ability to recognize inappropriate behavior and continually disregards the voices of students and parents when they report the vile actions of teachers preying on vulnerable students. This deliberate indifference is extremely dangerous to our students. The facts around the five suspensions/revocations are as follows:

1) Katie Wilmott's teaching certificate was suspended in June 2016 following a Grand Jury indictment for Rape in the Second Degree for her conduct with a male student, a charge for which she is currently awaiting trial. See criminal felony case as follows: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=rogers&number=CF-2016-429

2) Haylie Smart's teaching certificate was suspended in May 2018, following the disclosure of text messages relating to an inappropriate relationship with a male student. Following suspension of her certificate, Ms. Smart voluntarily surrendered it within days. See criminal felony case as follows: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=rogers&number=CF-2018-548

3) July 2019, former Oologah-Talala teacher Daniel Bodine was arrested and charged in Rogers County with Rape in the Second Degree for alleged sexual intercourse with one of his special education students at Oologah High School. Mr. Bodine reportedly engaged in sexual misconduct with a student with a disability -- on school property -- approximately 30 times from November 2018 to May 2019. See criminal felony case as follows: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=rogers&number=CF-2019-465

4) A video recorded incident involving alleged inappropriate touching of a male teacher on a female student in September 2018, lead to an administrative hearing where the Oologah-Talala School Board voted to terminate Chase Kime who was recently promoted to Head Football Coach. The Oklahoma State Department of Education suspended the teaching certificate of Mr. Kime on September 26, 2019. The video evidence was not a conclusive factor in the suspension of his certificate; however, it was a pattern of disturbing behavior including incidents over multi-year occurrences going back as far as 2011.

The Chase Kime incident drew notice of a pattern that exists within Oologah-Talala Public Schools. Due to concerns the Oklahoma State Department of Education required Superintendent Max Tanner and members of the Board of Education to attend the October 24, 2019 regular State School Board of Education board meeting for purposes of discussing the matters leading up to and including this suspension. Ultimately, Mr. Kime's teaching certificate was revoked in October 2019.

Days after returning from the State Board of Education meeting, Max Tanner received notice of another incident of sexual misconduct involving teacher and assistant basketball coach, Trent Winters. The facts surrounding the Trent Winters allegations are as follows:

5) On February 27, 2020, the State Board suspended the teaching certificate of Oologah-Talala teacher and assistant basketball coach Trent Winters, bringing the total to five (5) District teachers since 2016 who surrendered or faced revocation of their teaching certificates following misconduct allegations of a sexual nature involving Oologah-Talala students. On November 4, 2019 the parents of a student met with Max Tanner to report an incident of sexual misconduct between their child and Trent Winters. In response to this report Max Tanner failed to properly investigate or take action. He did not report the incident to the OSDE, DHS, or local authorities. Instead he made a calculated decision to make it quietly go away. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) was not notified of the allegations and investigation of Trent Winters until a parent of the student contacted the agency. In response to receiving the parent report, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Robyn Miller contacted Superintendent Max Tanner to discuss the incident. During this phone call Max Tanner described the incident to Dr. Miller as a "he said/she said scenario", despite an assistant coach having previously substantiated the allegation in question in a meeting with Superintendent Tanner on November 4, 2019, according to documentation provided to OSDE.

The District eventually suspended Mr. Winters on December 10, 2019, a full month after the sexual assault was substantiated. Superintendent Max Tanner took no action to terminate Trent Winters, instead he quietly accepted his resignation.

Because Trent Winters resigned while allegations were pending involving alleged sexual misconduct, the State Board of Education expected to receive notification from the school district per state law. This is especially true given the District's extensive history of incidents like this between employees and students, and given representations made by the District at the October 24, 2019, State Board meeting. However, the District did not report this personnel action to the State Board or the OSDE and did not return messages left by Deputy Superintendent Miller on December 10th and 11th, 2019.

Quite simply, Max Tanner does not have the capability to continue overseeing the safety of our school children. Max is a seasoned superintendent who has held that position for nearly two decades. He is an individual with a vast knowledge and experience with school district’s laws, policies and procedures and has demonstrated, at times, the correct course of action when needed. It’s inexcusable for such an individual to have a complete lack of fortitude and integrity to ensure the correct course of action is taken every time and not just when it’s convenient or serves his own personal agenda. The community has lost complete confidence that Max Tanner can continue as the Superintendent of the Oologah-Talala Public School District and demands his immediate termination.