KINGFISHER, Okla. (KFOR) — An emotional Kingfisher Public School board held a special meeting Wednesday night to accept the resignations of 18 employees. It comes a week after the district told News 4 that pending layoffs would be necessary right before Christmas. Since then, News 4 has learned over 20 positions will be impacted, including teaching and administrative roles. "My family and I love the school district in this community and we will miss every face and treasure every memory," said impacted employee Stuart Purinton during Wednesday's meeting. Several board members became noticeably emotional, wiping tears from their eyes. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: $5 million Kingfisher settlement results in pending layoffs The need stems from a budget shortfall of almost $2 million, according to the district. The school board asked the district to try and absorb part of a $5 million settlement as part of a civil lawsuit filed by former football player, Mason Mecklenburg. "You should be sad," said Kingfisher Interim Superintendent Andy Evans. "This is serious business." The settlement alleged years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of former football coach Jeff Myers that was swept under the rug. News 4 spoke with Mason's father, Justin, in June of 2024, who didn't mince his words. "He was shot at close range with a paintball gun while Coach Myers stood there and watched and laughed at it," said Justin Mecklenburg. Evans shared a copy of a December 2 notice sent to teachers and staff notifying them of the need for a reduction in staff. He said he personally contacted and met with each individual impacted, noting the board considered alternatives for over eight weeks before coming to the conclusion a reduction would be necessary. "We wouldn't have done this unless this was the best possible outcome we could have," said Evans. "We've got to worry about being able to provide education for the students at Kingfisher in the best possible manner we can." Evans says there's no way to sugarcoat the negative impact the reduction in staff will have on students and the impacted employees families. "There's no sense in joking or lying to yourself about it," said Evans. "That's going to happen. However, we do have really good teachers in the district that have moved into new positions to try to help us move through this." Everyone impacted by the reduction in force will be paid through December 20. Their final paycheck will come January 9. Those who agree to resign and waive a due process hearing will be paid an extra $2,500. "We came up with what we thought we could afford is paying them for their resignation instead of having to come back and do due process hearings on 20 some odd people," said Evans. "We decided that would be the best method that we would have to at least show a little bit of regret." News 4 reached out to the Mecklenburg's family for comment and received the following statement: Our family is deeply saddened of the news that members of the KPS staff have lost their jobs due to budget cuts. Compounding the hurt of innocent people losing their jobs is the fact that it did not have to be this way. Had the school board conducted a proper investigation and taken the appropriate action of terminating Jeff Myers back in 2021, the school would not be in the financial position that it is in today.  Inexplicably, Jeff Myers remains on the school payroll today, even after felony criminal charges of child neglect have been filed, all while many highly qualified and valued teachers and staff have lost their jobs. Justin Mecklenburg Mecklenburg's attorneys have also publicly criticized the district for not accepting an initial settlement offer of less than $2 million. Evans was not employed by the district at the time the settlement was offered and declined, so he said he couldn't really respond to that criticism. News 4 asked him if he's had conversations with any of the previous board members that were involved in the initial settlement discussion about why the agreement was rejected, and if they regretted doing so. "I have avoided those because that's really not what I'm dealing with," said Evans. "I'm dealing with this moving forward...Do I have animosity over that, no I do not, because I wasn't here when that happened. I live in the community, but I was not superintendent or interim superintendent at that point in time. We've got to move on from this, but the most important thing is we got to realize that we've got to learn from our mistakes, the past, to move into a better future." News 4 also pressed Evans on Myers current employment as that felony case plays out. Evans confirmed that Myers is still employed by the district. "We don't have just cause to terminate him until there would be some kind of some kind of legal ramification because the lawsuit was civil," said Evans. "It wasn't criminal and the State Department still hasn't fully suspended his license, therefore there's nothing we can do about that. We've got to continue this, and he's a career teacher for Kingfisher schools." News 4 asked Evans if it was difficult to look employees, the district plans to lay off, in the eyes and notify them they were losing their jobs when Myers got to keep his. "I have to be realistic in that discussion and there are RIF [reduction in force] rules that we have to follow," said Evans. "And it's in our board policy and it's also in our negotiated agreement with our teachers. We have to follow those rules and those rules say that you have to go to the lowest, the last hired temporary contract teachers before you can start doing RIFs or go look at administrators or go look at support personnel." In addition to the resignations, the board also approved eliminations of the high school secretary and superintendent's secretary positions. The board also voted to suspend the Junior High Soccer Program. A judge denied a request by Myers' attorneys to dismiss his criminal case earlier this month. His next appearance is set for February 2025.