Broken Arrow Superintendent Issues Apology

The vast majority of last weekend's high school football playoff games were delayed after a winter storm rolled into Oklahoma.

In fact, only one 6A game took place at its scheduled time – Broken Arrow at Mustang.

And the schools took a decent amount of heat for it on a frigid night, where Broken Arrow in particular was chastised based on the opinion that the school needlessly endangered the players and traveling fans who made the 136-mile trek to Mustang.

In response, Broken Arrow Public Schools Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall issued a public apology on the school's web site, baschools.org, on Monday:

Dear Broken Arrow Public Schools Parents,

I want to sincerely apologize for allowing the football game against Mustang to take place on Friday night. While Oklahoma weather is notoriously unpredictable, district administrators should have erred on the side of caution and requested a delay of the game. Other districts chose to postpone their games, and in hindsight, that would have been the best decision.

I appreciate the support our fans and students display for our football team, spirit squads and band students, but I would never ask for their support in exchange for their safety. While I am happy that we can celebrate a victory, the real victory is that all of our students and fans returned home safely.

Moving forward, I want to assure you that we will take every measure to make sure this mistake is not repeated. I appreciate your continued support of our students, and I hope you will join me at our next game as we watch our Tigers defeat the Union Redskins on the way to a State Championship.

Respectfully,

Jarod Mendenhall Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools