The Oklahoma State Capital

Oklahoma schools Superintendent Lindel Fields, who pledged to improve communication when he took office, is facing criticism from school district leaders and lawmakers alike who say his agency gave schools too little notice to prepare for the end of a federal "supper-program" option.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced Aug. 18 that the Expanded Learning Time option would end Oct. 1. Some districts had already begun classes and arranged staffing, transportation and school hours around serving the additional meal, according to Oklahoma Voice’s Sept. 8 reporting.

State officials say the change follows federal guidance and concerns about compliance with program rules. They have encouraged schools to apply for another federal after-school option and say districts had been warned that the existing program was in question.

The complaints come less than a year after Fields outlined plans to restore trust and improve communication in an Oct. 6, 2025, letter to parents. The Oklahoman reported that Fields said his agency and transition team wanted to serve students, families and educators and “encourage accountability throughout our system.”

Now, less than a year later, Hartshorne Superintendent Jason Lindley told Oklahoma Voice that his district had built its bus schedules, personnel contracts and school day around the supper program. Hartshorne extended its school day to seven hours, including academic enrichment and homework help, to qualify for the third meal.

The cancellation announcement came two weeks into Hartshorne’s school year.

“That’s a very short time frame in education,” Lindley told Oklahoma Voice.

State records cited by the publication showed 132 school sites, all in rural areas, approved for the Expanded Learning Time option for the 2025–26 school year.

When Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Fields on Oct. 2, 2025, Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, welcomed the selection and praised his ability to manage the agency’s daily work, meet deadlines and communicate with superintendents and teachers.

“He’s a great manager of people,” Daniels said. “Obviously, he understands the system, and that’s one of the things that is desperately needed, is to do the day-to-day (work) and the deadlines and (handle) the communication with superintendents and teachers that perhaps has been lacking. He can step in Day One and already know how to do that.”

Other lawmakers are now criticizing the department’s handling of the supper-program change. Fifty lawmakers from both parties and legislative chambers co-signed a letter by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, urging the department to postpone the change until after the current school year, Oklahoma Voice reported.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, told the publication that lawmakers were “blindsided” by the announcement. He said he had directed a Senate staff member to email Fields objecting to the lack of advance notice and consultation. Pugh said the program warranted scrutiny but schools needed more time to adjust.

District leaders and agency officials have offered conflicting accounts of earlier notice.

During an Aug. 20 video call reviewed by Oklahoma Voice, Kassi Reddell, the state director for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, said officials had warned since January that the program was in question and had encouraged new applicants to seek after-school snack funding instead.

Reddell said state and federal authorities had found cases in which schools lacked identifiable academic or enrichment activities beyond the meal, the publication reported.

Haworth Superintendent Jerrod Lundry disputed the agency’s account of advance warnings during the call. He said the department had sent emails as recently as July 30 recommending that districts enroll in the Expanded Learning Time option and had not warned that it would be abruptly ended.

Lundry told Oklahoma Voice that Haworth, a district of 400 students, lacked the money to establish an after-school program in the middle of the academic year. He also said transportation would limit participation: the geographically large district could not operate two sets of buses, and families able to pick up their children might not be those most in need of the additional meal.

Fields said the U.S. Department of Agriculture encouraged the decision, according to Oklahoma Voice’s Aug. 20 report. A USDA statement provided to the publication by the state department cited program integrity and compliance with federal requirements.

Fields said his agency would help schools seek funding through another after-school program. He also said he was unaware of potential consequences the department might have faced had it declined the USDA recommendation to close the existing option.

Education Department spokesperson Tara Thompson told Oklahoma Voice that the department’s work included helping communities meet children’s needs while complying with the law. As of the Sept. 8 report, she said 13 districts had begun applying to transition to the after-school snack program. School breakfasts and lunches remain unaffected.