Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino sat down with the OU Daily Tuesday to discuss recent high school protests, his relationship with the new state superintendent and tax increment financing for the Rock Creek Entertainment District.
After teaching in various districts and working in NPS administration for over 20 years, Migliorino began as superintendent in 2017. Earlier this month, the NPS Board renewed his contract through 2029 in a 3-2 vote.
“Serving this district, serving this community, serving my colleagues, serving my friends is why I do it,” Migliorino said. “I believe in what we have, I believe in what we do. I don’t think there’s a better community to have a public school in than Norman.”
Migliorino said he is motivated by creating better opportunities for students, families, teachers and the community.
Migliorino said he deeply admires Norman’s diverse community, including people of many different political opinions. The district is also racially diverse, he said, with last year marking the first school year the student population was less than 50% Caucasian.
“Everybody has something to bring to the table and what makes us an incredible place is our diversity,” Migliorino said. “If you don’t embrace it and you try to push it away, you’re missing out on so many opportunities.”
Recent protests
This month, students at Norman High School and Norman North High School participated in walkouts protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and some Norman High students held a pro-America rally following the walkouts.
NPS superintendent on recent high school protests: 'incredible civics lesson'
Migliorino said he supports students utilizing their First Amendment rights to hold protests, and the district focuses on ensuring their safety. He wants civil discourse, not chaos, and said the recent walkouts and rallies allow students to practice exercising their rights.
“(It’s) a great opportunity for an incredible civics lesson,” Migliorino said. “An opportunity for students to express themselves, to learn how to do it appropriately.
“A lot of history has been changed at the front steps of schoolhouses … and public schools at that… This is where we all come together.”
Relationships with state superintendents
Migliorino said he has regular dialogue with Lindel Fields, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, and their conversations are productive despite not agreeing on everything. Migliorino said he can contact Fields at any time, indicating this is a return to past relationships with other superintendents but without mentioning former Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters by name.
“Having the opportunity to share how (a proposed change) impacts NPS was what was missing,” Migliorino said. “With Superintendent Fields, that listening piece, and hearing us, has come back to the table.”
Walters served as state superintendent for nearly three years, before resigning last September to head the Teacher Freedom Alliance. Walters’ most notable aims included a classroom Bible mandate and new social studies standards, both of which met opposition in the courts. Fields has since pulled back on Walters’ initiatives, dismissing Bible distribution and curriculum changes.
Migliorino said Walters made statements without taking action, which he said led to turmoil.
“The headlines, or whatever Mr. Walters would put out there, would stir people up on purpose,” Migliorino said. “Our job was to calm them down and say, ‘We got this, this is what we’re doing.’”
Under Migliorino’s guidance, the district often did not comply with Walters’ mandates. NPS did not have Bibles in classrooms, did not follow Walters’ guidance to change social studies curriculum and it opted out of a moment of silence for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Migliorino said the Norman community has a variety of political viewpoints, and balancing them was a challenge under Walters. He said the district followed procedures it had in place, and remains committed to its strategic plan.
Walters also sparred with former Norman High School teacher Summer Boismier. On the first day of school in 2022, Boismier wrapped her classroom bookshelf in red paper, with “books the state doesn’t want you to read” written across it. The display also featured a QR code that led to Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned catalog, which promotes banned books.
Boismier resigned following parent complaints that she violated House Bill 1775, which bans schools from teaching that a person is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive because of their race or sex.
The state education board revoked Boismier’s teaching certificate in 2024. Last November, Boismier filed a lawsuit alleging state education officials violated her First Amendment rights by removing her certification. She told OU Daily she’s confident she’ll teach in Oklahoma again.
Migliorino said he has not had contact with Boismier in the past few years. Like all prospective employees, he said, she is welcome to apply for an opening in the district.
Will the TIF impact the NPS budget?
The tax increment financing district for the Rock Creek Entertainment District will collect property and sales tax within the district to fund the project. Migliorino serves as the NPS representative on the statutory TIF committee, which recommended the proposal be seen by city council.
Migliorino confirmed the diverted property taxes will not harm the district’s budget. The OU Foundation already owns the land in the TIF district, and it doesn’t have to pay property taxes, he said, so that area isn’t contributing to the NPS budget.
“There is no financial impact to the district negatively or positively while the TIF is in play,” Migliorino said. “When it goes off the rolls, that’s when, whoever’s in these positions in 25 years, would benefit.”
Migliorino anticipates the entertainment district will be an asset to NPS when the TIF ends because the single-family housing will likely bring more children into Norman schools, and a higher student population helps secure more funding. Increases in city population mean that when school bonds are passed, taxes are spread over a greater number of people, so the burden is less for each individual, Migliorino said.
He said concerns about the school budget come up whenever the city is considering a TIF, but the district will not be affected like some community members fear.
“I’ve been through all the TIFs in Norman, and that’s the same narrative in all of them,” Migliorino said. “But everybody has their opinion.”
This story was edited by Natalie Armour and Macey Thaxton. Andrew Higgins, Gretchen Schultz and Tori Pham copy edited this story.
