ODSS

Andrea Kunkel, CCOSA General Counsel & ODSS Executive Director

Kim Baxter, Amy Swartz, Rachelle English, and Christi Frederick will serve as ODSS officers for the 2023-24 school year.

President Kim Baxter is the Director of Special Services for McAlester Public Schools and serves as an adjunct instructor in the MAASE program at Southern Nazarene University. Baxter started a special education advisory committee for her district before the 2022-23 school year and shared her experience in a spring 2023 presentation for TeleSPED and the spring 2023 issue of Better Schools.

President-elect Amy Swartz has served as the Director of Special Services for Ponca City Public Schools since 2007. She grew up in Newkirk in a family of educators, and her parents are retired teachers. Swartz has served on the Board of Directors of the Child Development Center, which provides quality child care and early education for infants to pre-K or kindergarten in Ponca City.

Past President Rachelle English is the Director of Special Services for Stilwell Public Schools, where she also serves as a certified school psychologist. She is completing classes toward a BCBA. English has the following quote on her LinkedIn page: “Surround yourself with women who would mention your name in a room full of opportunities.”

Legislative & Policy Liaison Christi Frederick recently relocated to Oklahoma City and began a new job as the Special Education Compliance Administrator for Oklahoma City Public Schools. Before that, she served as the Director of Special Services for Lone Grove Public Schools. Frederick’s daughter is a proud Oklahoma public school teacher.

All four officers have long histories of service to ODSS and their director colleagues. All have served as mentors to new directors and assisted in training as part of the First-Year Special Education Directors Project. All were part of the first-ever group of special education directors to participate in Day at the Capitol in March 2023. And all four just attended the July CEC/CASE Special Education Summit in Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., honing their advocacy skills as they explained their districts’ needs connected to the special educator shortage, funding, and mental health to the Oklahoma Congressional delegation and their staff members. ODSS is proud to have these four leaders confidently guiding our vibrant group into a new school year. ■