Oklahoma school district’s former athletic facilitator accused of embezzling $61,000

The former athletic facilitator of an Oklahoma school district has been charged with six counts of felony embezzlement amounting to $61,000 in ticket sales, which the district says it never received.

Despite “numerous” attempts to collect the money, Courtney Walker refused to give the funds collected from several sporting events to Moore Public Schools, the local NBC affiliate reports.

“Moore School District officials questioned Walker, in which she stated that she ‘did not have the money any longer and spent the money on gambling,’ according to the affidavit.”

The district, which serves more than 22,600 students across Moore and south Oklahoma City, reported the alleged embezzlement July 1 to the Moore Police Department, the article explains.

“Between October 24, 2024, and May 10, 2025, four sporting events were held together by Moore High School and the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Association (OSSAA), in which Walker was said to manage the events, including the collection of ticket sales and depositing the money into the school’s account following each of the four events held.”

The incidents spanned volleyball, cheering, basketball and a regional track meet.

Two other examples involved a basketball event involving the Moore High School Lady Lions Swish Club and a seven-on-seven football league, according to the article.

Tulsa Public Schools under fire for embezzlement scheme, financial mismanagement

The charges against Walker come after recent investigations into another state district, Tulsa Public Schools, where a former official embezzled more than $824,000 before his employment was terminated.

Additionally, a state audit of the district concluded $25 million of the $37.3 million in examined expenditures “was spent in violation of the district’s own policies.”

“It’s deeply troubling to see Tulsa Public Schools having engaged in such gross financial misconduct,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said at the time. “The release of the audit is only the first step in holding wrongdoers accountable.”

E’Lena Ashley, one of the district’s board members, had requested the audit along with one other board member.

“We have been failed not only by Tulsa Public Schools and their policies and practices, but especially by that finance committee,” she said.

“We reached out to other board members. Some refused to sign, to request the audit. They said things like we are auditing ourselves every year – you know, the fox-watching-the-henhouse kind of idea. Others have said that there’s never been a need for an audit.”

As previously reported by The Heartlander, internal records suggest district officials had already known of the embezzlement long before reporting it to law enforcement.

“Months before a high-level embezzlement scheme at Tulsa Public Schools was uncovered, former superintendent Deborah Gist and her deputies were quietly arranging an exit plan for the official behind it — and using secret payments to a private consultant to manage the transition,” The Frontier reported.

“According to the documents, the arrangement to pay (the consultant) directly through the foundation was designed ‘to avoid Board approval, keeping the project confidential’ and violated district procurement policy.”

Featured image: Oklahoma News 4