Glover Addresses Potential Protest at KPS

Parents of Kingfisher Public Schools students received a “Remind” message on Tuesday afternoon that set off some alarms.

The message was sent by Superintendent David Glover and read:

“It has been brought to my attention that there is word going around about a ‘peaceful protest’ that will happen on our campus this Thursday.

“If it does happen I want to assure you that our students are safe and we will conduct ourselves in a business as usual way. I have met with our school resource officer and he has assured me that we will make sure it in no way disrupts the school day.

“Hopefully this is just a rumor and does not happen, but please know that I am totally committed to the safety and well-being of our students.”

Glover told the Times & Free Press Tuesday afternoon that the potential of protest is “in response to an inappropriate Twitter post made by one of our staff members.”

Glover added the posts “are not anything that’s a representation of the community of Kingfisher or our school system.”

Social media was ablaze a week ago following games at the Class 4A boys state basketball tournament.

Douglass defeated Kingfisher 31-29 in overtime in the semifinals at Yukon High School. The Trojans went on the next night to defeat Weatherford for the state championship.

Demeaning posts on Twitter were directed toward the Douglass program, prompting backlash on both Twitter and Facebook.

Glover later on Tuesday sent out another Remind post reiterating that:

“…there was an insensitive post that was sent out after the semifinal basketball game directed toward the Douglass basketball team. Some people from the Douglass community took offense to those remarks and there is a rumor that a peaceful protest will take place.”

There were other rumors that a special board of education meeting was planned either Tuesday or Wednesday to address the potential of a protest.

There is a special meeting planned at 6 p.m. Wednesday, but there are only two agenda items.

One is to consider the bid packages for the renovation at Gilmour Elementary School and another is to consider approving a lease-purchase agreement for turf installation at the football and softball fields.

While regular meetings must have an item for public participation to allow patrons to speak, special meetings do not have to include them.