The Western Heights Public Schools administration building, pictured Sept. 11, 2023, hosts a school board meeting room and district leadership offices in southwest Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Western Heights Public Schools spent millions on misguided expenses, overpaid and underpaid employees, and committed a litany of other financial mistakes, according to a state audit released Thursday, four years after outraged district residents and state officials requested it.
The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office investigated the small southwest Oklahoma City district’s 2019-2022 finances. Former Superintendent Mannix Barnes was in charge for much of that period until he was suspended amid a 2021 state takeover of the district…