Drummond, Kunzweiler: Former Tulsa Schools executive charged in $780K school fund scheme
OKLAHOMA CITY (June 4, 2026) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler announced today that a former Tulsa Public Schools executive and two others have been charged with 27 counts of conspiracy, embezzlement and kickbacks. The charges stem from a scheme that misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in voter-approved capital improvement funds.
Chris Hudgins, former executive director of bond and emergency management at the school district, is accused of conspiring with Gayle Gwinup and Thomas McKenna, partners of Tulsa-based Allied Engineering Group (AEG). Under the scheme, Hudgins allegedly directed Tulsa schools to pay AEG more than $779,000 in roofing projects where they did not perform any work. In turn, AEG paid more than $736,000 to subcontract Hudgins’ personal architecture consulting firm, M&G Consulting, for bogus work. McKenna also used a separate company, Starr Design Group Inc., to continue the scheme at additional TPS campuses. In addition, Hudgins ran his business while on district time and with district resources.
Drummond said the charges are particularly egregious since it involved money approved in a bond-issue election.
"These were taxpayer dollars that voters approved in good faith to be invested in their community’s schools. This is an unconscionable betrayal of the public trust and an outrageous affront to every Tulsan who supported the district’s capital improvement projects," he said. "Tulsa Public Schools has many dedicated, hard-working teachers, administrators and students who deserved better than someone in a leadership position abusing his power to line his own pockets."
Kunzweiler emphasized the harm done to the Tulsa community.
"Tulsa Public Schools exists to educate children not to fund the private schemes of those entrusted to manage its resources. Instead, Tulsa students and teachers went without the improved schools and facilities that were rightfully theirs," said Kunzweiler. "The families of Tulsa deserve to know that this type of alleged conduct has consequences, and my office intends to find truth, seek justice and hold wrongdoers accountable."
The charges emerged in part from an ongoing forensic audit of Tulsa Public Schools by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd, which is expected to be released in July.
Hudgins left the district in February 2025. Every person arrested or charged is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.
