Uncovering Fraud: Tulsa Public Schools Edition

TPS Bond Projects improve life for who? Could it be Chris Hudgins, Executive Director of Bond & Energy Management?

According to the Special Audit Report, Mr. Hudgins, "conducted business through his personal company with a school vendor" and evidence shows he "engaged in personal business activities during work hours utilizing school resources."

Looks like Mr. Hudgins pocketed more than $319K in 2019 as a "subcontractor" while also being paid $120K by taxpayers. Since the total work performed by this guy remains unknown, who wants to bet there's more to discover?

Read the whole Special Audit Report, here:
https://www.sai.ok.gov/Search%20Reports/database/TPS%20Audit%20Report%20web%20final.pdf

Who's BACKDATING purchase orders (POs)?

Memos obtained through OK Open Records Act show TPS administrators backdated POs and ended up exceeding the approved encumbrance amount in violation of state statute.

More concerning is the involvement of City of Tulsa Vision funding. How far does TPS corruption extend?

Read the entire Special Audit Report:
https://www.sai.ok.gov/Search%20Reports/database/TPS%20Audit%20Report%20web%20final.pdf

Why are TPS "slackers" sharing videos of students on the 3rd party app "Slack"? Why are they collecting data on our communities and sharing the information privately?

TPS administrators have a long way to go before "Becoming-better-humans" on their private "Slack" channels. Memos below show state auditor's concern for children when TPS administrators were caught sharing videos of students on the app Slack.

Why should we cut TPS any "Slack"?

TPS administrative "slackers" used a 3rd party app called "Slack" as cover for communications they didn't want the public or the State Auditor to see. This violates the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

What is TPS trying to hide?

According to this law, the public has a right to see what TPS generated with our taxes. Memos below document how TPS administrators tried to get around the Open Records Act requirements.

If you want to read the act yourselves, go for it: Oklahoma Open Record Act Act https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?citeid=80292

Who Was Paid $848,499? And For What!?

According to the Special Audit Report, a vendor called Leadership Consultancy was "paid $848,499 to coach 79 TPS employees ... without the receipt of itemized invoices."

- This is a cost of more than $10K/employee
- Roughly the same amount of money spent per student

The Report also pointed out that "TPS records did not include sufficient information to support the contract" for Leadership Consultancy.

Special Audit of Tulsa Public Schools:https://www.sai.ok.gov/Search%20Reports/database/TPS%20Audit%20Report%20web%20final.pdf

Memos obtained through the OK Open Records Act, illustrate how corruption is rampant among TPS administrators.

One example below comes from the TPS Bond Department and shows how Chris Hudgins, Director of Bond and Energy Management, used his relationship with TPS vendors for personal profit.

Tuesday, February 11, 2025: Oklahoma State Auditor Cindy Byrd scheduled a press conference to release the findings from the two year investigation into Tulsa Public Schools irregularities. She was unable to release the findings as planned because TPS invoked Oklahoma Statute Title 70, Section 5-127.1, which had not been invoked during her time in office.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025: Okla. State Auditor Cindy Bryd held a press conference and released the findings of the audit. Audit findings included:
- Bond fund mismanagement
- Administrative kick-backs
- Unlawful administrate stipends
- Misuse of Foundation for Tulsa Schools funds
- Conflicts of interest by administration
- Conflicts of interest by TPS Board members
- Teacher Retirement failed compensation
- Lack of internal controls
- Circumvention of Board oversight and approval
- Mismanagement of tax payer dollars and much more

To see the full findings, click here:
https://www.sai.ok.gov/Search%20Reports/database/TPS%20Audit%20Report%20web%20final.pdf