A state watchdog agency will restart health and safety inspections at the Oklahoma School for Science and Mathematics, a 2-year residential high school for academically advanced students, after a 16-year hiatus.
The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth in a meeting Jan. 26 voted to resume annual, routine inspections of the school through its Office of Juvenile System Oversight, which is charged with inspecting all state-run youth facilities as well as investigating complaints at private facilities.
There are six state-run facilities under their purview, including the Oklahoma School for Science and Mathematics. Two others are schools: Oklahoma School for the Blind and Oklahoma School for the Deaf.
Annette Jacobi, executive director of the commission, said the last inspection report on OSSM is dated 2008, and she doesn’t know why those visits stopped. It dropped off the agency’s radar until Oklahoma Watch requested OSSM’s most recent inspection report.
Commission inspectors focus on physical and mental safety issues, and conduct confidential interviews with residents and staff. They review fire inspection reports and check that staff has required certifications and safety training.
“Our job is to put everything in totality with health and safety,” Jacobi said.
For example, at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, inspectors ask students: Do you feel safe here? Are you having a problem with another resident or a staff member? Has anyone touched you or tried to touch where they shouldn’t against your will?
There’s no outside agency performing that kind of oversight at OSSM. Even though it’s a state-funded school, it’s not under the oversight of the State Department of Education and isn’t accredited.
An Oklahoma Watch investigation in 2023 revealed pervasive sexual harassment and bullying of students and staff at the school. Students described being subjected to inappropriate and sexist comments, and some struggled with mental health issues while attending and after graduating. Many of the complaints focused on two professors, both of whom agreed to retire this year. The school is undergoing several reforms, one of which is an anonymous complaint system.
Oversight there was so scarce that during a routine financial audit in 2019, employees pleaded with auditors to address sexual harassment and the toxic work environment because it was the best opportunity they’d found to be heard.
Joe Dorman, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said the commission should be conducting routine inspections of the state’s children’s facilities to ward off future problems.
“This falls right in line with their original, primary mission,” he said.
Jennifer Palmer has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since 2016 and covers education. Contact her at (405) 761-0093 or jpalmer@oklahomawatch.org. Follow her on Twitter @jpalmerOKC.
MORE FROM Jennifer Palmer
Domestic Violence Board Chairman Resigns in Protest
A decision by the state’s domestic violence board exposed a rift over how a mandatory protective tool is to be used and led chairman and domestic violence advocate Brandon Pasley to resign.
Isolation, Illness and Guns: Why More Older Oklahomans Are Dying by Suicide
More older Americans are dying by gun suicide. The rate is particularly high in Oklahoma, and especially in rural counties.
OKC Police Are Withholding Reports, Alarming Transparency Advocates
OKC police are withholding police reports unless there was an arrest, charges or a warrant, alarming transparency advocates. The public access counselor sided with police, allowing the practice to continue and, potentially, spread.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
