The state Supreme Court will not step into the fray between Kingfisher Public Schools and the Kingfisher County Excise Board.

The court handed down a decision Monday denying KPS’ application to assume original jurisdiction. All justices except one concurred with the decision. Justice Dana Kuehn recused herself from the case.

That means, at least for now, the district will move forward with a budget of nearly $2 million less than what it says it needs to operate on for the fiscal year.

“We will move forward,” said Interim Superintendent Andy Evans after receiving news of the decision. “We’ll move through it and get through it as efficiently and as painless as possible, but there likely will be steps that have to be taken.”

Evans now awaits word from the State Department of Education on what the ruling means for the school district’s state aid and state benefits.

He said the state’s decision will determine the severity of the district’s moves going forward.

The school district filed the application and petition for writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court on Oct. 10, asking the court to reverse a previous decision by the excise board.

The excise board had voted late last month to amend the school district’s estimate of needs.

The move reduced the general fund for 2024-25 from $16.2 million to $14.2 million in an effort to keep the district landowners and property owners from footing the bill for a portion of a lawsuit settlement.

In its filing, the district said the reduced amount would create an “untenable” situation for the school year and could result in “the elimination of lawful educational programs and/or districtwide employment terminations.”

Additionally, according to the filing, the move by the excise board “will ill-advisedly result in further school district funding crisis for the 2025-26 fiscal year.”

In a response filed by District Attorney Tommy Humphries, who represents the excise board, he argued the district didn’t meet the burden to obtain a writ of mandamus and that the excise board acted lawfully in its decision.

The filing by Humphries also stated the school district had other means to seek relief, including through the district court, should it be able to prove the move by the excise board could cause irreparable harm or that the move was unlawful.

However, noted Evans, such a decision wouldn’t be made by Nov. 1, which was why the district sought the emergency application and petition.

Property taxes can become payable on that date in Oklahoma.

Evans said he’s been working steadily on Kingfi sher’s finances since being hired early this month.

“I’ve been working on this for three weeks now,” he said. “We understand where the excise board is coming from, but this could be tough.

“We’ll see what happens.”