June hearing set in case of Norman teacher who became target of Ryan Walters' criticism

The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted Thursday to set a June license revocation hearing date for Summer Boismier, a former Norman High School teacher.

Boismier has faced a revocation hearing for almost two years. In 2022, state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters said Boismier was attempting to indoctrinate students with a “liberal political agenda" and called for her teaching license be permanently revoked.

Thursday the state board voted to set a June 27 hearing date. Both sides have until June 13 to submit filings in the case. The hearing would come about a year after an assistant attorney general ruled the Oklahoma State Department of Education failed to prove Boismier had violated any state law.

Walters took the action because Boismier pushed back against House Bill 1775, a controversial state law that targeted the teaching of critical race theory. In 2022 Boismier covered the bookshelves in her classroom with red butcher paper. She added a sign that read "books the state doesn't want you to read." She also posted a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library, which gave students online access to a wide variety of books, including many questioned by school authorities.

More: Judge denies request by Ryan Walters to dismiss defamation suit filed by ex-Norman teacher

Although Boismier did not endorse any particular book, Walters and others said some of the books in the library catalog contained explicit sexual content and racist concepts. Boismier resigned from Norman High School in August 2022.

A year later, she sued Walters in federal court. In her lawsuit, Boismier said posts published by Walters on his public accounts on X ― formerly Twitter ― when he served as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education, contained “false and misleading statements,” including the statement that Boismier had been fired from Norman Public Schools, that she had distributed pornography to students and that she had “sexualized her classroom.”

A status hearing is set for June 6 in federal court on Boismier's defamation lawsuit against Walters.

Boismier said in her lawsuit she “was a teacher rather than a politician or public figure.” Boismier's attorney, Brady Henderson, told The Oklahoman in January that he expected the matter to eventually find its way to district court.

On Thursday, Henderson said he wasn't surprised that a hearing date had been set.

"There's nothing surprising there," Henderson said. "They still seem to be doing the same thing. There is no real apparent reason why this is still out there. There never seemed to be anything to this in the state, beyond a political statement."

Boismier now works at the Brooklyn Public Library and continues to fight her revocation proceedings.

"There is really no reason for this," Henderson said. "It's hard to say what is causing the delay here, because the state department is a dumpster fire of chaos right now. There doesn’t seem to be coherent and clear leadership there."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Hearing for former Norman teacher Summer Boismier scheduled for June