By Michael Hutchins, Herald Democrat

After months of investigations, the Sherman Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to accept the voluntary resignation of Superintendent Tyson Bennett. The board made the decision to part ways with the superintendent Wednesday morning, nearly six months after controversy regarding the Sherman High School production of “Oklahoma!” began.

In March, the school board unanimously voted to suspend Bennett with pay following an investigation into issues surrounding the play, including allegations of discrimination against LGBT students. 

Last week, the board met in a special meeting to discuss the possible termination of Bennett, but took no action after a nearly three-hour closed, executive session. However, at the end of last week’s meeting, Morgan noted the district had come to an agreement with Bennett but gave no immediate details.

An agenda posted Friday said in a special meeting this week, the board could possibly take action on the superintendent’s voluntary separation agreement.

Following a two-and-a-half-hour executive session Wednesday, the board did just that and voted unanimously to accept a voluntary separation agreement with Bennett.

“I’ll make a motion that we accept and approve the voluntary separation agreement with Dr. Tyson Bennett,” board member Adam Cernero said.

The motion was seconded by board member David Tarvin.

Following the vote, Board President Brad Morgan declined to comment on the separation agreement with Bennett, the status or outcome of the investigation. The Herald Democrat has requested copies of the separation agreement and Bennett’s resignation letter.

Morgan said the district will go through the standard practices in finding and recruiting the next superintendent for the district.

In 2022, this practice included hiring a consultant to consider both internal and external candidates, but the search ultimately focused within the district.

Oklahoma! controversy

The controversy and investigation that led to Bennett’s departure centered on the decision to change the casting for theatrical performances at Sherman High School, specifically the production of “Oklahoma!” that eventually showed in January.

In November, the district announced it would postpone the high school production following casting changes that required students moving forward to play roles that matched their gender as assigned at birth. This led to allegations of discrimination against LGBT students as some students who identify as transgender lost their roles in the production due to the change.

SHS parent Philip Hightower previously said his son Max, who identifies as transgender, was among the students affected by the decision to require that a student’s gender as assigned at birth match that of the roles they play.

Max was active in both theater and choir throughout high school, but wanted to play bigger roles, Hightower said. In 2022, one of the street urchin chorus members in the district’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” was adjusted to be male in order to allow Max to participate.

Max got his opportunity to play a larger role when he was cast as Ali Hakim, a trickster and peddler character, in the production of “Oklahoma!”

Hightower said he got a call in early November from SHS Principal Scott Johnston stating that Max would be removed from the role per a new policy.

“He told me unfortunately the school had adopted a new policy where you can only play the roles of a gender that you were born as,” Hightower said in November. “I was kind of in shock and really didn’t know what to say. So, I said, ‘Ok, I mean I can’t change your mind so if nothing else please give him a good role, at least.’”

The district released a statement soon after stating that the production would be postponed in order to ensure that the production would not have any adult content that was inappropriate for all audiences. This led to speculation that the high school would switch to a junior version of the play designed for grade-level students.

However, this new production never took place as the school board reinstated the original script and cast amid significant public outcry. The board also called for an investigation into the events surrounding the controversy and removed Bennett’s oversight into fine arts programs.

With Bennett’s suspension on March 8, the board named Deputy Superintendent Thomas O’Neal as the acting superintendent for SISD. With Wednesday’s action, O’Neal will continue in this role for the foreseeable future, Morgan confirmed.

O’Neal was named as the deputy superintendent in June 2022. He has more than 30 years of experience in education, including more than a decade with Sherman ISD as a school principal, high school assistant principal and high school principal.

Prior to returning to Sherman ISD, O’Neal served as the chief financial officer for Anna ISD, where he worked for 14 years.

Bennett’s history with the district

Bennett joined Sherman ISD in July 2006 as the director of federal and state programs and assessment. In his nearly 20 years with the district, Bennett filled several administrative roles including assistant superintendent for academic and student services and assistant superintendent for finance and operations.

Following the departure of former Superintendent David Hicks in 2022, Bennett was named the lone finalist for the superintendent position that same year.