By a four to one vote, Henryetta school board members agreed to let Howard Sheward to hold a series of public meetings at the school.
Sheward, who has been the driving force behind two petitions for state audits, made the request in November. That initial request was tabled.
According to superintendent Dwayne Noble, opinions from both the school attorney and Oklahoma State School Board Association attorney said school facilities could be used by Sheward.
He said attorneys felt that, by denying the request, Sheward would have legal grounds to sue the school over, “denial of his civil liberties.”
In November, Sheward accused the city council of persecuting people who spoke up at council meetings. That claim has been denied by city council members.
School board member Jeanie Duncan made the motion to approve the request saying, “based solely on the recommendation of the superintendent and the school board attorney and OSSBA attorney I move we allow the citizen to use the school system.”
School board president James Williams cast the lone dissenting vote on the motion.
Sheward was not present at the meeting. At the November meeting, he told the board that public meetings would be held starting in the spring.
His latest petition to the state auditor’s office was ruled to have enough signatures to grant an audit. That will be the second one since 2014. Another petition is currently in litigation in District Court. It is seeking a change to the city charter (even though Henryetta is not a charter city) and requesting any utility rate increase to go to a vote of the people. Because that petition is in the court system, all signatures on it are public record. So far the city has spent nearly $15,000 in legal fees on that petition. If the state does perform an audit again, it is expected to cost the city between $50,000 and $70,000.
In other school business, board members accepted the resignation of elementary teacher Janice Johnson and Cheyenne Woods. Johnson said she is retiring in January after 18 years with the Henryetta school system. Woods will be leaving Dec. 15 to enroll in nursing school.
School board members held a three-hour-long executive session to hold an evaluation of the superintendent. Following that lengthy session, the board returned and voted to approve the evaluation.