'Nobody is gonna win': Kingfisher School District approves $5M settlement, taxpayers officially on the hook to pay most
KINGFISHER, Okla. (KFOR) - During a crowded Kingfisher Board of Education meeting Monday night, the Board approved a $5M settlement to close out a federal hazing lawsuit that has been making its way through the court system for almost two years.
The federal case has been ongoing since January 2022.
At the center of the case was a video depicting an alleged coach-sanctioned fight between players called “The Ring.”
Additionally, there was a picture of the plaintiff’s back showing severe bruising.
The plaintiff and then-Kingfisher High School football player, Mason Mecklenburg, claims the bruising was caused by other players whipping him with a wet towel.
A settlement in the case has been a hot potato for the last year.
Mecklenburg’s attorneys have consistently asked the school district to fire the coach responsible, Jeff Myers.
His attorneys then asked to settle the case for $1.5M, but it was rejected by the Kingfisher Board of Education in March 2022.
“I move that the board of education authorize its attorneys to notify plaintiff’s counsel that the board of education is rejecting the settlement offer at $1.5 million,” said Charles Walker, a Kingfisher School Board member, when the board came back from executive session on March 16, 2022.
Myers was later charged with a felony count of child neglect last month and then the Kingfisher school district agreed on a $5M settlement.
Myers is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome the criminal charge.
Although a settlement agreement was filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court two weeks ago, the Kingfisher Board of Education had not approved to finalize it.
Before the Board took a vote Monday night, several Kingfisher taxpayers voiced their frustration with the possibility of a settlement.
If the settlement were to be fully approved, property owners who live within the Kingfisher school district would be subject to a 12% tax increase over the next three years. The increase would begin in December 2024 and carry through December 2026.
Kingfisher County District 1 Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny told KFOR on Friday the school district will pay $1.25M to Mecklenburg and the remaining $3.75M will go on the tax rolls.
“That looks like about a $10M increase for the people who live in the Kingfisher School district, not the entire county,” said Dobrovolny. “When you couple the $3.75M with the 5.5% interest for the three years that it takes to pay it off, that’s where we get the 12% increase. We don’t know what the interest really is going to be, but we feel like it’s a pretty safe number just as a ballpark."
He said for every $1,000 worth of property value, property owners would pay an additional $120.
One public commenter at the Kingfisher Board of Education meeting on Monday said accepting the settlement would set a precedent for future lawsuits.
Another person told the Board, "We are not responsible for your mistakes."
A few others expressed support for Myers, even thanking him for the football program he has built over the last couple of decades.
The federal lawsuit was not covered under liability insurance because of a lack of coverage, according to Board member, Brad Wittrock.
In July 2021, Oklahoma Schools Risk Management Trust, a self-insurance pool who covered Kingfisher Public Schools was dissolved due to financial difficulties.
Wittrock told the crowd the district has always had an insurance policy, but the lawsuit popped up during their transition to a new insurance company which is the reason for a lack of coverage in this lawsuit.
"Our school district has dropped the ball on a lot of things. There's no disputing that," said Kingfisher Public Schools Superintendent David Glover. "As the Superintendent, I really got tired of us paying attorney fees and taking things away from the kids in our school. The school district was really going to be on trial starting [December 5]. The way I looked at it is our kids were going to be on trial because we were gonna have to put a stop on some things. We just didn't see an end. On the advice of our counsel, we knew we were probably going to lose the judgement and we kind of accepted we were going to lose this judgement."
After an hour of discussing on the agenda items, the Board approved the settlement of $5M but with an amendment.
The Board of Education plans to work with the Kingfisher County Treasurer's Office to ensure this "financial burden" doesn't fall on taxpayers.
Wittrock said he wants to work with County officials to pay the money every year before tax rolls hit.
"This is not a promise," he told the crowd on Monday.
Until then, property owners in the Kingfisher school district will pay 75% of the settlement for the next three years.
In addition to the monetary value of this settlement, Myers will not coach any athletic program within the Kingfisher school district.
The settlement agreement does point out this has no bearing on his teaching license which is still in effect until June 2024.
Supt. Glover said Monday, he believes if the case went to trial, the district could have risked a lot more than $5M.