Only three competitive school board races emerged across Tulsa County districts as the filing period closed Wednesday. One involves an incumbent Tulsa Public Schools board member known for clashing with district administrators.
E’Lena Ashley, a life coach who represents TPS District 4 in east Tulsa, will face off against former City Councilor Connie Dodson in the April 7 election.
“I absolutely know that there’s a lot more that can be done to protect our kids, to protect their finances, to protect the policies in school that would help them be better educated,” Ashley said. “And certainly, you know, I want to protect the innocence of our kids.”
Ashley has pushed against TPS administrators since joining the board in 2022. She called for an audit of the district’s finances that summer, which later revealed nearly a decade of faulty oversight, fraud and policy violations.
Ashley frequently dissents or abstains in board votes, including the recent vote to extend the contract of Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson. She remains a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the district over Johnson’s 2023 appointment.
“A lot of my abstensions are based on, you know, (the board) not adhering to or acknowledging policies that support our taxpayers and families,” Ashley said.
Ashley has also drawn strong criticism for her statements about LGBTQ+ and immigrant students. Her prayer at a high school graduation aligned her with former State Superintendent Ryan Walters who later threatened the district’s accreditation after TPS officials reprimanded Ashley.
Those public conflicts, Dodson says, are why community members directly reached out to her to challenge Ashley in the upcoming election.
“The incumbent tends to battle against even common sense measures,” Dodson, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said. “And of course she’s been quite controversial.”
Dodson, who represented east Tulsa for eight years on the city council, says her candidacy is about improving student outcomes and career development for educators.
“We should be focusing on improving those outcomes and making sure the kids of TPS have everything they need moving forward — not politics,” Dodson said. “There’s a reason that our seats in Tulsa are nonpartisan, our politics should not be a part of it.”
Dodson says she’s especially motivated to improve TPS for her 13-month-old grandson, Miles, who will enter public school by the time this term is up. She says all students, “regardless of where they come from,” should have better access to high-quality education.
Meanwhile, Ashley says her candidacy is about experience. If re-elected, she says she’ll continue pushing for more financial transparency and more parent oversight into library book offerings and sex education.
A dozen other school board seats are also up for election across Tulsa County districts but did not draw challengers, including TPS Board President Susan Lamkin’s District 7 in south Tulsa. All those candidates will be elected by default.
The only other TPS board seat up for grabs is that of President Susan Lamkin’s, who represents District 7 in south Tulsa. She is being challenged by Michael Phillips, a former TPS teacher. Phillips joined the race in the final hours of the filing period Wednesday.
The only other competitive school board race in the area is for Broken Arrow’s Zone 1 seat, with entrepreneur Linda Russell challenging incumbent Steve Allen.
Residents have until March 13 to register to vote in general school board elections. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is March 23. Early walk-in voting is April 2-3. Check your voter registration here.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported TPS Board President Susan Lamkin was running unopposed. However, challenger Michael Phillips filed late Wednesday. This story has been updated.
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