Get to know the new superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools

On July 1, longtime Oklahoma educator Dr. Sean McDaniel joined the Oklahoma City Public School District as superintendent. Dr. McDaniel comes to the role after serving as superintendent of Mustang Public Schools, a suburban school district of 11,000 students. Dr. McDaniel was recently named Oklahoma Superintendent of the Year by the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration. He has 33 years of experience in education, 17 of those as a district superintendent.

Recently members of the VeloCity editorial team sat down with Dr. McDaniel to learn more about his goals for OKCPS. Read on to hear his perspective on the district.

VeloCity: When you think of the future of the district, what is the most encouraging thing to you?

McDaniel: The most encouraging things to me are the talented employees serving the district and the incredible support that OKCPS receives from outside of the district by way of PTA's, Booster Clubs, civic groups, the Chamber, the Foundation, the United Way, Fields and Futures, and a host of other groups and individuals. People genuinely care about OKCPS kids and teachers and are willing to step in and step up in any way they can to help.

What do you consider to be the district’s biggest challenges and how do you plan to meet those challenges?

OKCPS has a number of challenges that must be addressed immediately. Included on that list would be the removal of obstacles that would prevent any student from accessing opportunities that would lead to a successful school experience as well as a successful life after high school. We begin to meet these challenges by talking about all kids first and by developing practices and policies that ensure equity across the district. That would include the distribution of resources, the staffing of schools, the setting of high expectations for all, and the execution of evidence-based plans that lead to success. Additional challenges would include declining enrollment, low performance on district and state tests, and high turnover in the superintendent's office.

The district has undergone several times of transition in the last 15 years. How do you plan to provide stability to the district?

I will provide stability in a number of ways. First, stability comes with longevity. I will be here for the long-term. Secondly, stability comes with follow through. If I say I will do something I have to follow through and that goes for everyone in the district from the Board to the employees to the students and families. When I follow through I build trust and trust will get things done once it is established. Everyone has a stake in stability - not just the superintendent.

If there was one thing that you wish more people knew about OKCPS, what would it be?

Coming from someone who lives in OKC and who has watched OKCPS from a distance for three decades; I would say that the 'one thing' would be that I wished people knew how passionate and excited people are about our schools. Unfortunately, people outside of the district are the ones who "own" the OKCPS narrative. We need to own our own narrative and while we certainly have challenges that must be faced and overcome; we also have many, many fantastic things going on and some wonderfully talented and supportive individuals and groups amongst us. We need to talk about the goodness of OKCPS more often.

How do you plan to be innovative with resources in the midst of a tight budget environment? 

I have begun the process of taking stock of our habits and practices, our programs and personnel. Additionally, I will continue to elicit input from staff and the community in order to find creative ways to meet student and family needs and to provide teachers and schools with support. As a district, we also need to identify additional funding sources while at the same time spending our money wisely and in a manner that brings a premium return on our investment.

What are your primary goals for your first year? For the next five years?

Four personal objectives that I have as an educator have always been to attend to relationships, to keep my focus on student success, to communicate effectively, and to insist on collaboration. It is also important to me to hold myself accountable and to develop a culture of accountability; not as a punitive measure but as a set of agreements with follow through. Specifically, in OKCPS, we need a focus on the academic expectations that exist in all schools, we need the equitable distribution of resources across the district, we need to review and revise the organizational structure so that we are service oriented; and we need to have a conversation about results, academic and otherwise. On the personal side, we need to recruit, train, and retain effective teachers. I am certain that OKCPS has our fair share of quality teachers but we need one in every classroom. We need to recruit, train, and retain outstanding leaders to head our schools. Again, we have outstanding ones but we need outstanding ones in every position, in every school.

You can learn more about Dr. McDaniel’s path forward for Oklahoma City Public Schools at the upcoming State of the Schools event on Tuesday, Aug. 21. Learn more.