(This story was produced in partnership with the Oklahoma nonprofit newsroom The Frontier.)
Simply get the cash to households. That was the driving drive behind Gov. Kevin Stitt’s plan for $18 million in U.S. Division of Training aid {dollars} supposed to assist college students throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Different states used federal cash to coach new academics or assist packages for deaf and blind college students. However in Oklahoma, a historical past instructor with political ambitions helped a Florida tech firm win a no-bid state contract to quickly distribute $8 million to households with little authorities oversight. One other $10 million went to personal college vouchers.
With few guardrails, some households used Oklahoma’s share of federal Governor’s Emergency Training Aid Funds to purchase Christmas bushes, gaming consoles, electrical fireplaces and outside grills, an investigation by Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier has discovered.
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Months later the instructor, Ryan Walters, was on a nationwide stage as Stitt’s new Secretary of Training, calling the hassle successful.
Oklahoma’s contract with the Florida-based software program firm ClassWallet allowed households to rapidly buy instructional provides on-line via grants funded with federal aid cash via the Bridge the Hole Digital Pockets program. At a digital convention for a nationwide college reform group in 2020, Walters touted the Bridge the Hole program as a mannequin for the way to begin a college voucher program with “minimal staffing necessities and most high quality management.”
“We didn’t have the federal government company personnel with the background expertise to do that and, fairly frankly, we felt like there could possibly be a extra environment friendly manner to do that outdoors our authorities companies,” Walters stated.
From the beginning, the technique led to an absence of oversight on purchases, probably violating the phrases of the federal grant and state buying necessities, in response to federal regulators.
Whereas most mother and father spent the cash on instructional provides, Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier discovered almost half one million {dollars} in questionable purchases. The information organizations discovered a minimum of 548 TVs bought via ClassWallet price $191,000.
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Households additionally purchased stress washers, automotive stereo gear, espresso makers, train gear and good watches.
ClassWallet blamed the state for the dearth of scrutiny over purchases.
“As a software program contractor, ClassWallet had neither duty for, nor authority to train programmatic determination making with respect to this system or its related federal funds and didn’t have duty for grant compliance,” firm spokesman Henry Feintuch stated in a press release.
Oklahoma in the end returned $2.9 million in unspent aid cash to the federal authorities supposed to assist college students and academics. ClassWallet ended the Bridge the Hole program at some point early after federal investigators and attorneys for the state found the corporate was working on an expired contract with nearly no authorities supervision.
Federal auditors are actually investigating how the Stitt administration awarded the ClassWallet contract and distributed aid cash, however the report has but to be launched.
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A U.S. Division of Training overview of Bridge the Hole and the non-public college voucher program, Keep in College, discovered that Oklahoma carried out few safeguards to stop fraud or abuse. Data obtained by Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier present the state positioned no limits on what objects households may buy from distributors.
Stitt’s spokeswoman, Carly Atchison, declined to schedule an interview with the governor and refused to reply written questions from Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier about how his administration dealt with the aid cash.
“In the course of the COVID pandemic, Governor Stitt had an obligation to get federal aid funds to college students and households in Oklahoma as rapidly as doable and he achieved simply that,” Atchison stated in a written assertion.
Alternative in Disaster
Federal cash from the Governor’s Emergency Training Aid Fund was supposed to assist college students from kindergarten via faculty as colleges transitioned to distance studying throughout the pandemic. Congress gave state governors the ability to ship the aid {dollars} to public or non-public colleges and different education-related entities as a part of the Coronavirus Help, Aid and Financial Safety Act in 2020. The legislation gave states broad discretion over the way to spend the cash.
For Stitt, the aid funds supplied an opportunity to put the muse for a later, larger-scale effort to get state schooling cash straight to oldsters within the type of college vouchers.
Walters noticed the cash as a method to create a profitable mannequin.
(Dylan Goforth/The Frontier)
“That’s what we’re taking a look at. That’s what we’re attempting to do,” Walters stated throughout the ClassWallet-sponsored panel. “We actually hope that’s within the playing cards.”
A number of states already use ClassWallet to manage college voucher packages. The corporate noticed income triple throughout the pandemic.
Even earlier than Stitt named Walters Secretary of Training in September 2020, Walters had labored to safe the contract with ClassWallet, in response to emails obtained by Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier.
Walters suggested then-secretary of State and Training Mike Rogers on the way to spend the governor’s pandemic funds and organized a July 2020 assembly with the CEO Of ClassWallet.
Walters declined a number of interview requests for this story. Rogers declined an interview and didn’t reply to written questions.
Some states solicited proposals and public suggestions on the way to spend aid funds. However in Oklahoma, solely a “small group of individuals” determined the way to spend the cash and award sole-source contracts, federal regulators would later write.
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As colleges had been set to reopen In August 2020, Stitt’s Chief Data Officer Jerry Moore waived state aggressive bidding necessities to award ClassWallet a contract to distribute $18 million in federal aid cash via grants to households for instructional provides and vouchers for personal colleges. ClassWallet acquired a $650,000 reduce of the aid cash to run the packages.
State legislation allowed Moore to waive aggressive bidding necessities “in the most effective curiosity of the State to reply rapidly to the impact Covid-19 was having on the state’s schooling system,” Caden Cleveland, a spokesman for the Workplace of Administration and Enterprise Providers stated in a press release to Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier.
A federal rule prohibited states from giving cash straight to oldsters or pupils.
However states may get across the ban by awarding the funds to an eligible entity “that gives providers to college students,” which may then distribute cash to oldsters and college students.
Publicly, the Stitt administration stated the tutorial nonprofit Each Child Counts Oklahoma would handle the Bridge the Hole program. The group was lower than 6 months previous on the time. Walters served as its govt director.
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But not one of the federal aid cash handed via Each Child Counts earlier than it was parsed out to oldsters in small grants to spend via the ClassWallet platform, the nonprofit stated in a press release.
As an alternative, the Oklahoma Workplace of Academic High quality and Accountability, a state company that oversees instructor certification, despatched ClassWallet a paper verify for $17.35 million (this system quantity, minus ClassWallet’s payment) through licensed mail in August 2020.
A Unilateral Choice
The Workplace of Academic High quality and Accountability had no expertise dealing with federal grants earlier than the Stitt administration tasked it with distributing thousands and thousands in aid cash.
Dan Craig, who was the company’s govt director on the time, stated Rogers requested him to signal the contract with ClassWallet. He stated in an interview with Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier that he thought the cash was merely presupposed to move via his company to ClassWallet and the corporate would oversee the remainder.
Craig, who left the workplace in 2021 to be superintendent of Kingfisher Public Colleges, was quickly fielding questions from federal screens about how the state was monitoring household purchases.
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By fall 2020, ClassWallet nonetheless had about 1,000 Bridge the Hole grants to distribute and the tip of the corporate’s contract with the state was looming. Extra time was wanted to get the entire cash out.
Stitt raised the earnings cap and prolonged the deadline so extra households may apply. ClassWallet continued to distribute federal aid cash to households even after its contract with the state expired on Dec. 30, 2020, data present.
Slideshow: What They Bought
The Oklahoma Public College Useful resource Heart, a constitution college advocate, had a contract to supply assist desk providers for the Bridge the Hole program. The nonprofit made $2,137 from the arragment. Emails and different data present Oklahoma Public College Useful resource Heart Government Director Brent Bushey, who was not a state worker and didn’t have authority to barter on behalf of the state, was additionally concerned in talks about extending ClassWallet’s contract.
In November 2020, Walters advised Rosenberg over the cellphone to increase the contract to March 31, 2021. Bushey, who was additionally on the decision, adopted up with an e-mail confirming that spending deadlines had been prolonged for the Bridge the Hole and the Keep in College packages, e-mail data present.
However emails present that whereas ClassWallet officers thought the corporate’s contract had been prolonged, state officers by no means signed a written extension, nor did Walters inform the folks engaged on this system at Craig’s company of the contract extension.
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In an interview with Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier, Bushey denied any involvement in contractual talks between ClassWallet and the state. He claimed the state licensed the extension.
A ‘Large Success’
Representatives from ClassWallet advised state officers that the corporate prevented fraud by limiting purchases to authorised distributors.
However at the same time as some mother and father bought dishwashers and automotive stereo amplifiers, ClassWallet CEO Jamie Rosenberg referred to as the Oklahoma program “extremely profitable.”
“They had been actually capable of deploy $18 million with out having to interact any human capital from the federal government company, and for it to be nearly hands-free and extremely, extremely streamlined,” Rosenberg stated on the 2020 panel dialogue.
Following weeks of inquiries by The Frontier and Oklahoma Watch in regards to the ClassWallet contract, Stitt’s workplace launched a requirement letter despatched late Friday afternoon stating that it intends to pursue damages the state “has incurred or will incur because of ClassWallet’s failure to adjust to it’s contractual and associated authorized obligations.”
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“Regrettably, ClassWallet failed to satisfy its contractual and authorized obligations to the state and a few of our most susceptible residents,” Atchison, Stitt’s spokeswoman, stated. “Governor Stitt is dedicated to recouping any misused funds and if ClassWallet refuses to take applicable motion, we could have no choice however to file swimsuit in courtroom.”
The letter blames ClassWallet for permitting mother and father to “make the most of ClassWallet’s Fiscal Administration and Fee System to expend grant funds for functions indirectly tied to schooling.”
However data present ClassWallet gave Walters the chance to restrict what mother and father may purchase.
Slideshow: Emails Present Lack of Accountability
“We’re getting a couple of questions on eligible objects,” a ClassWallet worker wrote to Walters in an e-mail the day this system went reside, previous to Walters being named Secretary of Training. “It’s my understanding that each one purchases via any of our distributors (are) allowed … is there a blanket approval for objects as long as they’re bought with the distributors on our platform?”
“Blanket approval with distributors in your platform,” Walters responded.
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Walters’ determination allowed households to make hundreds of questionable purchases from authorised ClassWallet distributors, together with Workplace Depot and Staples. Mother and father had been additionally capable of purchase objects from House Depot, though the retailer was not included on a vendor record ClassWallet offered to the state.
ClassWallet offered restricted customer support assist. The corporate’s contract didn’t define how it will assist households return objects bought via the platform or followup on unused grant funds, federal screens discovered.
Mother and father flooded the Each Child Counts Fb web page with complaints and questions.
Some left messages about delivery mix-ups. Others struggled to alternate objects that arrived damaged.
Emanuel Holmes tried for months to get a refund on a faulty 3D printer he bought for his sons via ClassWallet with no success. (Clifton Adock/The Frontier)
Wagoner resident Emanuel Holmes, a father of six, bought a faulty 3D printer from Workplace Depot via ClassWallet. He tried for months to get a refund via the platform so he may alternate the printer, which he wished for his excessive school-aged sons to study some fundamental engineering ideas.
The clock was ticking all the way down to the cutoff date to spend the funds: March 31, 2021.
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Holmes contacted Workplace Depot, ClassWallet, Each Child Counts Oklahoma, the governor’s workplace, Walters and the Workplace of Academic High quality and Accountability to get the difficulty resolved. However the deadline got here and went. The cash was by no means credited again to Holmes’ account after Workplace Depot took again the faulty printer.
“I stored attempting, telling them March is developing, March is developing, we’ve bought to get one thing going with this printer, ” he stated.
It appeared like a waste of cash that might have gone towards serving to his youngsters study one thing new, Holmes stated.
On March 30, 2021, Each Child Counts despatched an e-mail to grant recipients, telling them the deadline to spend instructional grants had arrived. This system ended at some point early.
Not everybody noticed the discover in time. Mother and father who hadn’t spent the cash but had been locked out.
Extra requests for assist from mother and father poured in.
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Jessica Eddings, a mom of 5 in Yukon, used her Bridge the Hole grant to purchase cleansing and studying provides and craft supplies. She reached out to ClassWallet for assist when she didn’t obtain every thing she ordered.
A ClassWallet consultant advised her the corporate had no instructions for what to do. Two days later, the identical customer support agent advised her this system had ended.
“I simply thought I used to be fortunate to get it and that I simply missed out,” Eddings stated.
On April 5, 2021, Walters requested the Workplace of Academic High quality and Accountability’s director, Craig, if the households who had funds remaining of their accounts may purchase instructional provides and supply receipts to his company for reimbursement, e-mail data present.
Craig advised Walters he didn’t assume that might be authorized, e-mail data present.
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Walters advised Craig he was fearful about adverse media consideration and was “attempting to get out in entrance of this.”
The revelations of spending irregularities and doubtlessly mismanaged funds had been worrisome to Craig.
About two weeks after the Bridge the Hole program ended, Craig acquired an e-mail from the Oklahoma Workplace of Administration Enterprise Providers stating that his company was accountable for guaranteeing this system was “carried out as supposed.”
Craig forwarded the e-mail to the Oklahoma Lawyer Basic’s Workplace. “I’ve some considerations,” he wrote. “Received’t this be onerous to do for the reason that contract has ended?”
Jennifer Palmer has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since 2016 and covers schooling. Contact her at (405) 761-0093 or jpalmer@oklahomawatch.org. Comply with her on Twitter @jpalmerOKC
Clifton Adcock has been an investigative journalist in Oklahoma for many years, and joined The Frontier in 2017. Since becoming a member of The Frontier, Adcock has written extensively about politics, prison justice, medical marijuana and the surroundings. Contact him at clifton@readfrontier.com. Comply with @cliftonhowze
Reese Gorman joined The Frontier in 2022 after a stint at The Norman Transcript. Gorman primarily covers state and federal authorities for The Frontier. Contact him at reese@readfrontier.com. Comply with @reesejgorman
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by Jennifer Palmer, Oklahoma Watch Might 2, 2022
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St. Isidore, which aims to serve 1,500 students online within Oklahoma by its fifth year of operation, has the backing of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt as well as former state schools superintendent Ryan Walters. Proponents of the plan say the online school would be a boon for rural Oklahoma students who do not have a Catholic school in their area.
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board had in April 2023 voted unanimously to disapprove the school’s application, later in June approving the contract 3-2 after revisions to the application.
Brett Farley, executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference and a board member for the proposed school, told CNA following the first disapproval that the plan’s backers were “not discouraged at all.” He said at the time he believed Oklahoma’s government presents a “favorable environment to negotiate protections for religious liberty” to ensure that the school’s Catholic identity is not threatened by the acceptance of public funds.
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City had pushed for approval of the school after former Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor issued an advisory opinion in late 2022 stating that because of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, Oklahoma’s provisions banning religious schools from accessing public funds as charters could be unconstitutional. He cautioned that this legal change would not mean that religious schools using public funds “can necessarily operate however they want.” Drummond withdrew his predecessor’s opinion on the matter.
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In a dissent to the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority opinion, Justice Dana Kuehn argued that St. Isidore’s would be a partner of the state, not a government entity, and thus the state denying funds to St. Isidore’s because it is religious would violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.
“St. Isidore would not be replacing any secular school, only adding to the options available, which is the heart of the Charter Schools Act,” she wrote.
“The state is not required to partner with private entities to provide common education. But if it does, it cannot close the door to an otherwise qualified entity simply because it is sectarian … Contracting with a private entity that has religious affiliations, by itself, does not establish a state religion, nor does it favor one religion over another.”
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.
SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — An Alabama man accused in a string of killings in Oklahoma and Alabama has pleaded not guilty to two Oklahoma killings.
The pleas were entered on behalf of Stacy Lee Drake, 50, during a Monday court appearance, KHBS-TV reported. He faces two charges of enhanced murder.
Drake has has until Aug. 7 in the Oklahoma case to find a lawyer to represent him, or a public defender will be appointed for him, KHBS reported.
Relatives and friends of the victims packed the courtroom where Drake appeared.
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Drake was apprehended Thursday in a wooded area in the Morrilton, Arkansas, area after a search that spanned multiple southern states, Arkansas State Police said.
Drake is accused of homicides and carjackings in Oklahoma, Arkansas State Police said. They said he’s also wanted on other felony warrants from multiple jurisdictions on charges including aggravated robbery, carjacking and murder.
A man and a woman were found dead inside a business near Gans, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas state line, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. Both had injuries consistent with homicide, and the agency said Drake is a person of interest.
In Alabama, Drake is accused of killing Russell Andrews on May 14, according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said there is a warrant for Drake on a murder charge. News outlets reported that Andrews, 62, was found dead inside the Alcoholic Anonymous building.
Tuscaloosa authorities said Andrews’ vehicle was stolen when he was killed and hours later was picked up by cameras travelling along an interstate near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.
OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS) — Alex Caruso has returned to where his pro career began, in Oklahoma City, after being traded by the Bulls to the Thunder for Josh Giddey last week.
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Caruso was waived by the Thunder in 2016, and played for the NBA’s G-League’s Oklahoma City Blue. Now, he will join a young Thunder squad after a straight-up exchange between the Thunder and the Bulls.
But the defensive specialist’s time in Chicago won’t be forgotten.
“I loved playing my three years with Billy [Donovan]. He’s a great coach, and me and him had some really good conversations,” Caruso said. “Great memories—I’m not going to lose those relationships even though I’ve left Chicago. You know, I’ve made great relationships over three years with people in eth city, Chicago itself, and obviously, teammates and coaches.”
Caruso, an All-Defense guard who has spent the past three seasons with the Bulls after winning the 2020 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, had been the subject of trade rumors for several years. The Bulls resisted offers built around draft picks throughout his entire time in Chicago.
But in Giddey, the Bulls land a former No. 6 overall pick who was in desperate need of a fresh start.
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Caruso is one of the best defensive perimeter players in all of basketball. He is capable of guarding
