Lee Ann Kuhlman, a retired Central Middle School teacher who has represented District 1 on the Edmond Public Schools Board of Education since 2010, faces challenger Codie Tiffin, a financial advisor, in her pursuit of a fourth five-year term.
Kuhlman said she first joined the board to offer a teacher’s perspective. This year, she is running because she feels like she still has more to give.
“The weight of a board member is pretty heavy in that you make decisions for 25,000 students in this district and the teachers and the staff,” Kuhlman said. “My experience on the board has made me grow. (…) I’ve learned so much in these last years, and I feel like that’s valuable.”
Tiffin said that while she appreciates the service her opponent has offered, it is time for a fresh perspective. Tiffin serves on the board of directors for a nonprofit called Souls International Foundation and has past experience from Cottonwood Classical Charter School in New Mexico.
“It’s not improving anymore, and we need to change,” Tiffin said of EPS.
Kuhlman described the culture of the current Edmond Public Schools Board as “cohesive.”
“We’re five people, and each one of us has a vote. No one’s going to mandate something on your own. We have to communicate, we have to work together, and we do it for the good of the district,” Kuhlman said. “We’re always working to do what’s best for students.”
Residents within EPS District 1 are eligible to vote at their normal polling place Tuesday, April 7, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting is set for Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3. District 1 covers the easternmost portion of the district. Both Kuhlman and Tiffin spoke with NonDoc ahead of the election.
Kuhlman: ‘We do the best we can with what we have’
Tiffin highlighted her financial skillset as an asset to the school board, as well as her ability to be organized and her values of truth and honesty.
“Something that needs to be done on a board, you have to be able to oppose with a conviction and know why you’re opposing with conviction, or why you’re approving with conviction,” Tiffin said.
Tiffin said she is very involved with Liberty Church — known as Fairview Baptist Church for a century — which is pastored by The Rev. Paul Blair.
“A lot of our churchgoers have helped me door knock. They have helped me do posters,” Tiffin said. “They’re not running the campaign, but they’re helping me run the campaign. I’ve never campaigned for anything outside of student council in high school.”
Tiffin said an event held at Liberty Church inspired her to run after discussing books that she feels are age-inappropriate for schools.
“They brought in various organizations that talked about the types of books that were in our schools. It was very much an awareness weekend,” Tiffin said. “At that time, I just felt like, ‘There’s some way I need to give back or get involved in that,’ and I didn’t know how to pursue that.”
Tiffin did not specify which books concerned her in libraries at Edmond Public Schools, which filed and won a 2024 lawsuit affirming that school districts — not the State Department of Education — have legal authority over their library catalogues. The district has a formal policy for reviewing the appropriateness of books, and last year the EPS Board voted to retain The Glass Castle in its high schools despite some voicing concerns over its descriptions of sexual abuse.
A friend from church approached Tiffin about running for the District 1 seat, and after prayer, Tiffin said God put the calling on her heart.
Asked to discuss challenges for the district, Kuhlman identified budget cuts from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program ending and decreased enrollment owing to birth rates and educational alternatives.
“I want what’s best for this district, and the challenges are sometimes overwhelming,” Kuhlman said. “We do the best we can with what we have.”
Tiffin: ‘I can’t help my kid learn if I don’t know how they’re learning’
Asked what challenges she sees for EPS, Tiffin said Edmond is “like a beacon for the state” and that she hopes to improve reading outcomes and academic excellence.
Tiffin said she believes in classical education, which she defined as a focus on fundamental reading, writing and arithmetic.
“So it’s like how they teach and how they learn. So it doesn’t use critical race theory. It doesn’t use math the way they are doing math recently, it does the original style of doing math,” Tiffin said. “I appreciated that because that’s how I learned in public school. I can’t help my kid learn if I don’t know how they’re learning.”
Kuhlman pointed to a strategic goal to help EPS students be prepared for their next stage of life, whatever the student’s path may be. The preparedness is developed by gaining a work ethic through EPS and leaning into the variety of electives offered to students so they can find something to pursue after graduation, Kuhlman said.
As a financial advisor, Tiffin also expressed concern for fiscal transparency.
“I just think that we’re paying taxes into this wonderful city that we live in and get to participate in, and we need more transparency of how those dollars are spent,” Tiffin said. “With that being said, I just think that there’s some opportunity that we can maybe shift around funds and pay our teachers better and (…) get some different reward systems going into where, if you’re a performing teacher and you hit certain markers, I think that we can draw better talent to us, as well as have better results for our children.”
Kuhlman also focused on teacher pay, highlighting a part of the board’s strategic plan.
“I see teachers working so hard, and we have to do something about their pay,” Kuhlman said. “We cannot attract quality teachers if we do not do something.”
To support educator recruitment and retention, Kuhlman said the district looks to surveys from teachers who retire or leave the district so improvements can be made.
Asked for a fun fact about herself, Tiffin said she once won $10,000 in a talent show.
“I can cross my eyes and make only one eye move back and forth,” Tiffin said.
Kuhlman shared her Lebanese heritage and spoke of the traditional recipes passed down from her mother and grandmother.
“I make baklava. I make Lebanese easter bread,” Kuhlman said. “All the main dishes, I carry that on.”
