Oklahoma's education official is investigating a school district for employing a principal who faced charges related to alleged child pornography crimes two decades ago. Notably, the principal was never convicted of these charges.
"According to news reports at the time, those charges were dismissed by the court, and the record of the charges has been expunged," Western Heights Superintendent Brayden Savage said in a statement to the press.
Shane Murnan was hired by the Western Heights School District (WHSD) in June to be the principal of John Glenn Elementary School, at which time district leadership noted on its Facebook page that it had become aware of his past charges.
Oklahoma state Superintendent Ryan Murphy addressed his concerns on X (Twitter):
"The State Department of Education would have conducted another felony background check upon renewing his certification. Please know we are aware of the situation and handling this matter with the utmost attention and care. The greatest priority of Western Heights Public Schools is providing a safe learning environment for our students. They are our #1 focus."
Murnan was a classroom teacher at Little Axe Elementary School, a site of approximately 550 students within a small, rural district in central Oklahoma serving primarily economically disadvantaged children. From there, Muran moved to the much larger (approx. 32,000 enrolled), more urban, increasingly progressive and failing Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) district as a teacher, teacher trainer/instructional coach, and eventually assistant principal at Prairie Queen Elementary School.
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