OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The State Board of Education is changing its wording about a request to purchase Bibles in every Oklahoma classroom.

Last week, the Oklahoma State Department of Education opened a bidding process, allowing vendors to fulfill their request for 55,000 Bibles.

But there was a catch. The Bibles must include specific American historical documents, like the Declaration of Independence. The only Bible that matched that description was one endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

OSDE announced updates following a recommendation from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), which manages the state’s processes for state contracts.

OSDE said the new Request for Proposal (RFP) includes the following updates:

• Copies of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, U.S. Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and U.S. Bill of Rights can be bound with the Bible or separately from it.
• OSDE is allowed to consider multiple suppliers for provision of the Bible.
• Price has been added as an evaluation criteria.
• Additional founding documents must be bound in durable material.
• The RFP closing date was extended from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21.

OSDE said Superintendent Ryan Walters and his staff agreed to these updates after OMES recommended them.

Superintendent Ryan Walters said, “Look, all I want is to make sure the Bible is back in school. I’ve been very clear on that. This is an open bid; it’s a competitive process, it’s transparent, and very open and I play no role in that.”

One state lawmaker told FOX23 there’s still issues with how the Bibles are bought.

“I still have concerns of why do we need to purchase Bibles with taxpayer funds,” said State Representative Mark McBride.

State Representative Mark McBride, a Republican from Moore, is the head of the House Appropriations Budget on Education. He arguably holds the most power on where money goes for Oklahoma schools.

When the bidding started for buying 55,000 Bibles for Oklahoma schools, he was not a fan.

“I still have concerns. I’m glad the RFP was changed, the issue is, I don’t think you can shuffle money around like that,” said McBride.

There were also many religious leaders who had issues with attaching any documents to a Bible, some flat out calling it blasphemous.

“I think they’re getting a lot of pushback from pastors and religious organizations,” said McBride.

McBride says the $3 million in tax payer dollars the department wants to use can only be approved by the legislature and for payroll purposes only. He says it’s illegal to use it for anything other than what it was budgeted for.

“In section 2 of the limits bill, it says you can’t move money around, it’s gotta be used for what it’s designated for. My concern is the $3 million approved last legislative session. You can’t move that money around, it’s all about the rule of law and we’re skirting the rule of law here,” said McBride.

Walters addressed McBride’s complaints, saying, “Mark McBride hates the Bible, he hates President Trump and he’s been crystal clear on that. He is trying to come up with any kind of excuse he can to stop anything that he thinks is supporting President Trump or having the Bibles in schools.”

OSDE acknowledged the claim that the state’s RFP was catered to one specific organization. OSDE said they are committed to a fair and transparent competition that protects the integrity of the purchasing process.

“It is disappointing and a disservice to the people of Oklahoma that virtually every state news outlet has dodged all accountability on such blatant misreporting of the facts surrounding this request for proposal from the state,” said State Superintendent Walters in a press release. “There are numerous Bible vendors in this country that have the capacity to fulfill this request. The purpose of the RFP process is to find a vendor that can provide the product we need, of reasonable quality, at the best value. There are numerous state employees engaged and committed to a process to determine who that best vendor will be, and I have no involvement in that process, as it should be. My number one goal is to ensure that our classrooms have copies of the Bible so that it can be utilized as an appropriate tool to properly and accurately teach Oklahoma students of its important influence in the history of our country and its secular value. Period.”

OSDE shared a brief summary of this specific RFP process:

• SDE submits suggested RFP language to OMES.
• OMES determines the ultimate RFP language to ensure all aspects follow state law.
• OMES gathers and responds to inquiries from various interested vendors during the open question window.
• OMES gathers vendor submissions and provides all bids to OSDE for final consideration.
• The Department of Procurement within OSDE appoints three panelists to review the final proposals. The panelists choose a final vendor they believe is best equipped to deliver the service in line with the standards outlined in the RFP.

You can read the full RFP by clicking here.