OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, said he's been waiting almost two months for information requested from State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister to give an accounting of how billions of federal relief dollars have been spent to benefit Oklahoma students.

Caldwell sent a letter Sept. 1 to Hofmeister, copying her general counsel Brad Clark, requesting records related to federal COVID relief dollars. He specifically asked for the total amount of federal dollars received; total amount distributed; how much remains unspent; a description of each program receiving funds and the school districts impacted; as well as a description of the process of how each program was selected, including any related bidding process. He also asked for the total amount of encumbered funds, a list of programs those funds are encumbered for, and the distribution schedule for those funds. He requested the information by Sept. 30, giving the department the entirety of the month to produce the information.

""This is information that should be easy to get,"" Caldwell said. ""Yet the state department has failed to comply with a simple request for information. Legislators hear from our schools all the time about the need for more funding, and it appears we have money that has yet to be distributed to help them meet their needs. Unfortunately, due to the lack of response from the department of education, there is no way for us to know how much we have already spent or what to tell our schools about how much help is still to come. We have no accounting of where we are in the process.""

Caldwell said he requested this information at the beginning of the school year.

""We are now more than halfway through the first semester, and I still don't know which schools have received this money or how it will benefit our students. I and other Oklahomans deserve to know how these funds are being disbursed.""

Caldwell said he received an email Sept. 2 from Carolyn Thompson, director of government affairs and deputy chief of staff at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, saying his request had been received and the department would begin working to compile the information and hoped to have it to him by the end of September. On Oct. 3, he received a follow-up email saying they were still working on gathering the information requested and he should have it by the end of that week, Oct. 7.

He is still waiting to receive the records.

""Unfortunately, this feels like there is a pattern here of the department being less than transparent,"" he said.

He pointed to an earlier appeal by himself and 22 other lawmakers that the governor request an audit of the State Department of Education following a report from State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd that noted several deficiencies within the department. That on-going audit was called ""an attack"" by Superintendent Hofmeister.

Several reports show the learning loss from COVID was extreme for Oklahoma students, with test scores the past few years well below pre-pandemic levels. The federal dollars were promised toward reading, math and other programs that could help students recover the loss, Caldwell said.

""It's imperative we get this money to our schools to help our students recover from the harm caused from the decision to close down our schools,"" he said, ""It's equally important that Oklahomans know how this public money is being spent.""