NORMAN – Attorneys for a Moore Public Schools student who sued state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education over an administrative rule that prevents the student from changing his pronouns in school records have asked a Cleveland County judge for summary judgment in the case.
In a brief filed Friday afternoon, Leslie Briggs, an attorney for the student, wrote: “The critical issue in this matter is a question of law. Namely, do defendants lack legal authority to apply the Student Records Rule? Plaintiffs urge this court to answer the question in the affirmative.
Briggs also argued that Walters and the review board violated the student’s right to due process under the Oklahoma Administrative Procedure Act and the Oklahoma Constitution, which Briggs said would have entitled the student to summary judgment in this case.
“Defendants had no authority to engage in legislation to control students’ ability to correct their gender information on school records,” Briggs wrote. “Allowing defendants to do so is an impermissible expansion of (the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s) power and a usurpation of the Legislature’s policymaking authority. Oklahoma law is clear: agencies are a tool of the executive branch to implement the policies of the Legislature. They cannot unilaterally expand their authority and must respect the public’s right to due process.”
Jason Reese, the attorney of record for Walters and the board in the case, did not respond to an email seeking comment Friday afternoon.
District Judge Michael Tupper has not yet set a date for a hearing to consider the motion.
The individual board members – Don Burdick, Sarah Lepak, Kendra Wesson, Katie Quebedeaux and Zachary Archer – are also defendants in the case, although Reese has argued they should not be included.
The lawsuit was filed in Cleveland District Court on Dec. 21 by the Oklahoma Equality Law Center and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice on behalf of the student, who goes by the pseudonym “J. Doe” in the suit. A former general counsel for the state Department of Education successfully moved the case to federal court, but after a few weeks a federal judge sent the case back to state court after amending the complaint to include only state law claims.
The student wants to have his pronouns changed in school records. But last September, the state Board of Education, which Walters chairs, issued an administrative rule prohibiting school districts and local schools from “changing sex or gender designations in previous student records” without the board’s approval. The board gave final approval to the rule on Jan. 25, despite court orders from judges in Cleveland and Payne counties allowing such changes in student records. Bryan Cleveland, the board’s general counsel at the time, called the orders illegal.
The student was granted a temporary restraining order against Walters and the state school board
The student’s attorneys claim that Walters and Cleveland had already publicly identified the student during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. The student then sought a temporary restraining order against Walters and the board, which Tupper granted.
When asked about the order on July 31, Walters denied that it was issued against him or the board.
“You know that’s not true,” Walters said. “The restraining order wasn’t against me. The restraining order was against both legal teams, saying — and my lawyers tell me this happens all the time — that when you collect records on a minor, you can’t reveal the minor’s name. The judge even said that this wasn’t a restraining order against a specific person. It was a general restraining order about how to get the information. See, that was a misrepresentation. That’s what we saw in that order.”
He also denied having established the student’s identity at a public meeting, although reporters were able to identify the student’s family using information provided by Walters and Cleveland at the public meeting.
“I mean, I know I didn’t do that,” Walters said. “I didn’t name the child. But again, it’s about records – where are records, how are they kept, how are things disclosed. Again, look, it’s paramount that you keep confidential information confidential, and that’s what we strive for, which is why you see we want to make sure we do things right. Look, I respect any kind of decision, yes, if a child doesn’t want their information to come out, I respect that 100 percent.”
The process of creating and approving administrative rules for state agencies is often uncontroversial and takes place away from the spotlight. But the Oklahoma State Board of Education’s aggressive rulemaking under Walters since he took office in January 2023 has raised concerns on both sides of the political spectrum and sparked at least two lawsuits, one over the rule on pronouns and another over who has the authority to determine the content of school libraries.
In the latter case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of Edmond Public Schools, which had sued, on the grounds that this right belongs to local school boards, not the state school board. The court essentially voided the state school board’s library regulation.
