Oklahoma Charter School's Student Records

Confidential student records are sitting in a vacated Oklahoma City building nearly eight weeks after Proud To Partner Leadership Academy (PTPLA) closed. The charter high school ceased operations on July 1 after the Statewide Charter School Board canceled its contract over financial, operational, and academic concerns.

Paper copies of academic transcripts, vaccination records, and enrollment documents for the school's 100 former students remain inside. According to email correspondence obtained by Oklahoma Voice, this situation raises privacy concerns and has potentially accrued thousands in rental fees.

Dispute Over Responsibility

A spokesperson for the Statewide Charter School Board, Shelly Hickman, said board staff contacted the landlord, who indicated the records are locked inside. Hickman stated it is the PTPLA team that holds the key. The state has electronic copies and provides them to families daily, noting a lack of paper copies hasn't hindered students from enrolling elsewhere.

Marva Williamson, a PTPLA board member and the school's only remaining representative on a closure transition team, disputes this. She said the state needs to contact the landlord for entry because the school no longer has access. School board president Sharri Coleman returned the building keys on July 31. A memorandum from that date stated student records and some desks remained inside.

A Stalled Transition Process

State officials say they tried to retrieve the files multiple times in June but were refused because records were incomplete. Emails show state employees repeatedly asked PTPLA representatives in July and August to hand over the documents or arrange a pickup time. A deadline of August 12 was set for the transition team to transfer all records.

Days after the deadline, state employees were still seeking a response. "We could be at the building today if the PTPLA transition team arranged for us to enter and finally produced these hard copy records for us, which has been their legal responsibility all along," Hickman said.

Coleman, who says she is not part of the transition team, became concerned by the lack of progress. On a recent Friday, she notified news media, multiple state lawmakers, and State Superintendent Lindel Fields about the documents. Her email to state leaders frustrated the statewide board.

Statewide Charter School Board Chair Brian Shellem wrote in an email that state employees made "numerous attempts" to obtain the documents. He argued abandoning them could violate student privacy laws and that the school could have hired a courier service.

Mounting Financial Liabilities

The leftover items have accrued rental fees. According to a Thursday email from building landlord Cameron Kaspereit, two months of fees total $39,469. Kaspereit's email, obtained by Oklahoma Voice, also stated another $118,800 is owed for a "building expense due from the early termination" and fees for damages.

The last of PTPLA's funds will go toward its outstanding bills, according to a July 21 email from the state board's legal compliance officer, Emily Witwer. She wrote that the landlord's only recourse after closure would be to sue the defunct entity, as the Statewide Charter School Board does not inherit PTPLA's debts.