KPS Settles Lawsuit with Mecklenburg

A settlement has been reached in the federal civil suit against Kingfisher Public Schools and multiple coaches, according to Superintendent David Glover.

The district has reached a $5 million settlement agreement with Mason Mecklenburg as well as other stipulations, Glover told the Times & Free Press.

"The decision was reached to settle was from the advice of our counsel," Glover said. "There were a number of factors that went into the decision by our board but it was decided that the risk to our school system and to our patrons was too great to gamble on a jury trial that our attorneys just did not think we could win."

Although Glover said he couldn’t specifically comment on personnel issues, previous settlement stipulations have demanded the extra-duty coaching assignments of head football coach Jeff Myers not be renewed.

Myers is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of a felony charge of child neglect that was filed last month.

KPS will pay $1.25 million from the general fund within 90 days. 

The remaining $3.75 million will be paid from the school’s sinking fund - meaning it falls to the patrons of the school district - over the next three years.

“Our settlement is in no way an admission of liability but it recognizes that the students, the school, the community come first and resolving this lawsuit and returning to our focus to education was of upmost importance,” Glover said.

“Due to factors beyond the administration’s control, this lawsuit was not covered by liability insurance. Our settlement decision was reached to protect the uninsured district from a potential loss the local taxpayers could not bear.”

Glover said the settlement removes the possibility of the plaintiff in the case to seek punitive damages from the district, Myers or Micah Nall, Blake Eaton and Derek Patterson, who were also named in the civil suit originally filed in July 2021.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available and a complete story will be in the weekend edition of the Times & Free Press.