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Former Norman educator petitions court to reestablish revoked Oklahoma teaching license

Former Norman High School English teacher Summer Boismier.
Courtesy of Summer Boismier
Former Norman High School English teacher Summer Boismier.

Former Norman educator Summer Boismier filed a petition in Oklahoma County District Court Friday to overturn the revocation of her teaching license.

The certificate was revoked in August by the State Board of Education.

Two years ago, Boismier shared a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library’s website, including its banned books section. She covered her classroom bookshelves with paper reading, “Books the state doesn’t want you to read.” The move was in response to House Bill 1775, a law prohibiting certain discussions of race and sex in the classroom.

Boismier requests the board’s order be reversed and the department return her teaching certificate to good standing, as well as process the renewal of her certificate, which expired over the summer pending revocation proceedings. She also requests the department pay for court costs and attorney fees.

In the filing, Boismier alleges the order to pull the certificate relies on parts of HB 1775 that have been paused by a federal lawsuit.

Furthermore, she alleges the state violated her right to free speech by relying on comments she made to Oklahoma City TV news station Fox 25, saying she was “a walking HB 1775 violation.” The filing says regulating public press statements is outside of the statutory authority of the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

She also argues her right to due process was violated because State Superintendent Ryan Walters — then serving as secretary of education — called for Boismier’s license to be pulled before any evidentiary hearing or investigation.

The filing says because Walters championed the revocation during his run for office, he should have recused himself from the proceedings rather than treating it as a “campaign promise to be fulfilled.”

It alleges the order to revoke the certificate does not match what Boismier was accused of in the original application. It also says the board relied on flimsy evidence. For instance, the investigatory hearing found that despite an allegation Boismier supplied the book Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe on her covered classroom shelves, no photographic evidence or other corroboration could be made.

The petition also alleges the order exceeds its statutory authority by attempting to regulate student access to independent reading materials outside school. The QR code to the online library was not part of classroom instruction.

Last summer, Boismier’s case went to a hearing officer appointed by OSDE, which concluded with a recommendation that her certificate should not be revoked. Friday’s petition argues the board’s decision to pull the certificate anyway is arbitrary and capricious, reflecting “obvious and explicitly stated bias and malice.”

Lastly, it alleges the board’s move contradicted its policies — policies such as requiring educators to encourage independent student reading and requiring Bibles in classrooms.

“The [revocation] order is also inconsistent with current board mandates that require the presence of specific types of Bibles in Oklahoma classrooms (that also describe sexual encounters, rape, etc. numerous times) by relying on the allegation that [Boismier’s] revocation is necessary because her actions could have, theoretically, caused a hypothetical student to find a book somewhere in a library that had content about sex,” the filing reads.

OSDE Director of Communications Dan Isett said in a statement the department stands by its decision. He repeated a disputed refrain Boismier introduced "sexually explicit material" and, despite a hearing officer concluding otherwise, said she "broke the law to do it."

"To protect Oklahoma students, Superintendent Walters and the State Board of Education were right to prevent her from teaching our students again," the statement read.

This article was updated to include a response from OSDE.

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

Beth reports on education topics for StateImpact Oklahoma.
StateImpact Oklahoma reports on education, health, environment, and the intersection of government and everyday Oklahomans. It's a reporting project and collaboration of KGOU, KOSU, KWGS and KCCU, with broadcasts heard on NPR Member stations.
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