TPS Board Votes To Have Attorney Look Into Filing Lawsuit Against Former Employee

The Tulsa school board has voted to have its attorney look into filing a lawsuit against a former employee in the district.

This is after the school district discovered last year that nearly $20,000 was missing.

Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist said since they first discovered the missing $20,000, the district has discovered two more discrepancies that could be 10 times that amount.

"This district is a public entity, and it's my responsibility to make sure every single penny that is provided to us, whether it's from taxpayers or philanthropic donors, is used in the best interest of students," Dr. Gist said.

Devin Fletcher was the Chief Equity and Talent Officer at the district.

He resigned after the district discovered the mishandling of money with a vendor last June. Since then, Gist said they've found two additional issues with other vendors.

Gist said the district has worked to provide investigators with whatever they need.

"To make sure those who made these choices and broke that trust, the sacred trust that we have, that those folks will be held accountable," she said.

Gist said the district is working hard to make sure something like this cannot happen again.

"We just want to do everything, everything we can do, to make sure those funds are returned to the district and to be put to use how they were intended, which is for teaching and learning for children," Gist said.

Gist said they don't expect to find any additional discrepancies.