Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools
Keith Ballard, Ed.D.
Before becoming the Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, Dr. Keith Ballard was Executive Director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA). He has more than 36 years of service in public education. Dr. Ballard began his educational career in 1972 as a teacher in Coweta Public Schools. He moved to Oologah, Oklahoma, in 1974 where he taught and served in several administrative positions including Superintendent from 1986 until 1992. Dr. Ballard then moved to Claremore where he served as Superintendent of Claremore Public Schools before assuming the position with OSSBA on January 1, 2000.
Although Dr. Ballard has lived in Oklahoma during his entire professional career, he is a native of Kiowa, Kansas, where he attended kindergarten through the twelfth grade. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Speech from Kansas State University in Hays, Kansas; a Master’s Degree as a Reading Specialist from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma; and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Dr. Ballard has served as an adjunct professor of school law for Southern Nazarene University, Tulsa and Oklahoma City branches, and Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. He currently serves as a professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Oklahoma, but is on a leave of absence while serving as Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools. In addition, Dr. Ballard currently serves on the State Superintendent’s Advisory Council and is past chairman of the Oklahoma Education Coalition and of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. He served on the United Suburban Schools Association Executive Committee where he was the 1996-97 president and was on the executive committee of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators where he served as president in 1997-98. Dr. Ballard has served on the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association Liaison Committee representing executive directors on the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Board of Directors.
Dr. Ballard has also been active for several years with the Oklahoma State Legislature regarding educational issues. He meets regularly with key legislators and other state leaders to help shape educational legislation and policy. Dr. Ballard has served on several committees to study statewide educational issues, including School Funding Formula, All-Day Kindergarten, Mid-term Adjustment, Hold-Harmless, Gifted and Talented, and English as a Second Language.
Dr. Ballard has been honored as being named one of NSBA’s “Executive Educator 100” in 1988, “Who’s Who in American Education” and “Who’s Who Among Top Executives.”
His wife of 37 years, Christie, is a retired school librarian and has worked part-time as the executive director of the Rogers County Literacy Council. She is now fully retired and baby-sits their grandchildren. They have three children: son Matthew, an attorney in Tulsa, and his wife Traci, also an attorney who works in the Educational Leadership program at OU-Tulsa; daughter Michelle, a fourth grade teacher in Verdigris, Oklahoma; and son Michael, a coach and Spanish teacher in Claremore Public Schools. Keith and Christie have three grandchildren, Ashton Lewis Andrews and Kizer Isabella Ballard, both two years old and the newest, Keaton Castle Ballard.
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent
Pat Poindexter - email
