Judge orders Oklahoma board to reconsider former Norman teacher’s license revocation

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top school board has been ordered to reconsider its decision to revoke the teaching license of a former Norman High School teacher who posted a QR code in her classroom linking to a library catalogue containing banned books.

Oklahoma County District Judge Richard Ogden decided Wednesday the original 2024 revocation proceedings against Summer Boismier were flawed by former state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ participation. 

Boismier had a pending defamation lawsuit against Walters at the time that he led the Oklahoma State Board of Education in revoking her teaching certification, and “there is indication Mr. Walters had certain biases” affecting his decision-making, the judge said.

“Significant is that if someone has active litigation against you, that is a conflict of interest that cannot be set aside,” Ogden said while making a ruling from the bench.

The state board never formally considered a request from Boismier to disqualify Walters from taking part in the revocation proceedings, Ogden said. Instead, he participated in multiple votes concerning her license revocation and “carried a great deal of influence” in the process, the judge said.

After losing her certification, she appealed the decision in Oklahoma County District Court. 

Boismier said the decision Wednesday was “validating.”

“I have no apologies for anything to anyone,” she said after the hearing. “It’s just always been about doing what’s best for the students in our classrooms and my colleagues who help facilitate that education. That’s really what all this has been about the entire time, and I feel like it’s validating not just for me but for them, as well.”

In a statement through its communications office, the Oklahoma State Department of Education said it was “surprised by today’s ruling and the deviation from judicial procedures.”

“The board general counsel and OSDE general counsel will now present the State Board members with their options regarding next steps,” the agency said.

The judge made his decision after hearing testimony from Walters and Boismier in his courtroom Wednesday. 

Walters, who stepped down from office last year, testified that his goal was to “rid the classroom of indoctrination” and carry out a state law that bans certain race and gender topics from being taught in public schools. 

That law, known as House Bill 1775, requires action against teachers’ certifications if they are found in violation, he said.

“I believe that was my duty as an elected official,” Walters said on the witness stand.

He first called for Boismier to lose her teaching license before he took office. 

Walters was a Republican candidate running for state superintendent in August 2022 when Boismier made national news for resigning from her teaching job in protest of HB 1775.

Shortly before her resignation, Boismier had covered the bookshelves in her English classroom with red butcher paper that read “books the state doesn’t want you to read.” Norman Public Schools had asked teachers to remove their classroom books until each title could be reviewed, following the enactment of HB 1775.

During her testimony Wednesday, Boismier called the law an “educational gag order” and “poorly disguised bigotry” that prevented her from properly doing her job.

Her classroom display also included a QR code next to the words “definitely don’t scan.” The code linked to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned initiative, which gives students in any part of the country access to its catalogue. The library collection includes some books that have been banned in some schools.

After taking office as the head of the state Education Department, Walters directed the agency to file a motion to revoke Boismier’s teaching license. The agency contended she violated teacher code of conduct standards by posting the QR code. 

Walters’ administration singled out a few books in the library catalogue that it argued had sexually inappropriate content or contained topics that would violate HB 1775. 

Boismier said she never recommended a specific book from the Brooklyn library that students should read.

“I believe it is important for students not only to choose what they read but also to form their own opinions,” she said while testifying Wednesday.

The agency presented its case for revocation in a June 2023 hearing before an administrative law judge, who then recommended Boismier not have her teaching license taken away. 

The state Board of Education, with Walters at the helm, took the unusual step of rejecting that recommendation. Instead, it voted in August 2024 to revoke Boismier’s certification, preventing her from teaching in any Oklahoma public school.

All the while, she said, Walters “was both my adjudicator and my accuser.” After leaving her teaching job, Boismier moved to New York City to work for the Brooklyn library but said she has since returned to Oklahoma.

Walters had only one vote on a board that agreed unanimously to revoke her license, said Heidi Long, an attorney representing the state board.

“We heard evidence today that Ms. Boismier was biased against Ryan Walters, that she violated HB 1775, that she does not regret it and that she would do it again,” Long said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Boismier’s attorneys spent much of Wednesday’s hearing showing several social media posts, public statements and a political campaign advertisement from Walters in which he said he opposed “woke indoctrination,” liberal political views and “transgender ideology.” 

Even before he took office, he publicly stated “there is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda” like Boismier.

Boismier testified she was an advocate for racial minorities and the LGBTQ+ community. She was the faculty sponsor of a school Gender-Sexuality Alliance club and displayed an LGBTQ+ rainbow flag in her classroom.

Ogden agreed the language Walters used in his public comments and posts could indicate bias against people with certain political beliefs.

He ordered the state Board of Education to decide whether to accept the findings of Boismier’s original revocation hearing or to schedule a new hearing.

“There needs to be a decision by the state Board of Education free from any bias that may have come from Mr. Walters,” Ogden said in court.

Boismier still has an active federal lawsuit pending against the state board, the Education Department and the state superintendent, though her initial defamation case against Walters was thrown out. 

She argued in her pending case that the state violated her constitutional rights to equal protection, due process and free speech, among other allegations.

Her attorney, Iris Halpern, said Boismier’s legal team will look into whether that ongoing case could complicate the state board’s ability to fairly vote on her license revocation. However, she said the board, which now has entirely new members, should move on and “make the right decision.”

“This is someone’s life and career that the state is messing with,” Halpern said after the hearing. “They know they should not have revoked her license in the first place. I think that’s very clear. It was infected with bias and prejudice, and it was a political stand at that time, and it continues to be a similar stand now.”