Parents sue Kingfisher School District, State Supt. Walters over claims of decades-long culture of child abuse in athletics program
The petitioners go on to say the State Department of Education has been aware of the situation for over a year, yet nothing has been done. (KHS)
KINGFISHER (KOKH) - Two parents have petitioned for a Writ of Mandamus against the Kingfisher School District and State Superintendent Ryan Walters for reportedly failing to stop child abuse at Kingfisher Schools.
"For the better part of the past two decades, KPS has maintained an athletic program that condones and encourages bullying, hazing, violence, and child abuse," said the petitioners. "Minor children have been sodomized, urinated on, tazed, whipped, beaten, humiliated, and verbally and mentally abused."
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According to court filings, all of the abuse took place under the supervision of KPS coaches and head football coach Jeff Myers, who remains employed by the school district.
The petitioners go on to say the State Department of Education has been aware of the situation for over a year, yet nothing has been done.
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"Our schools are supposed to be safe. We are required, by law, to send our children to school from the time they are five years old until they are old enough to leave us and enter the world as adults."
The petitioners make claims that it is only a matter of time before one of the victims in Kingfisher turns to violence and brings tragedy to the community, the likes of which similar to Columbine, Uvalde, and Parkland.
They say the requested relief is necessary to ensure the health and safety of Kingfisher public school students and call for the immediate termination of coach Myers.
According to documents, petitioners sent a letter to the Oklahoma State Department of Education on January 17, 2022, detailing the abuse in the KPS football program. The OSDE says it opened an investigation later that spring.
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