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Ryan Walters, then a candidate to be the Oklahoma state superintendent, speaks in Oklahoma City, on June 28, 2022.

Some Oklahoma schools have said they were defying the state superintendent’s directive to observe a period of silence Tuesday to honor Charlie Kirk, CNN affiliates reported.

The state school superintendent, Ryan Walters, had said on X Monday he was directing Oklahoma schools to observe “a minute of silence” at noon CT Tuesday to honor Kirk’s legacy.

“This moment is about coming together to honor a man who believed in empowering the next generation with courage and conviction,” Ryan wrote in a separate letter to parents.

But some school districts said they would not observe that noon minute, arguing that they already observe a state-mandated daily moment of silence at another time of day, and that adding one at noon would be disruptive or challenging logistcally, CNN affiliates KJRH, KOCO and KOKH reported.

Oklahoma law already requires public schools to hold a daily moment of silence of approximately one minute, during which students may reflect, pray, or engage in any quiet activity that does not interfere with others.

Tulsa Public School told KJRH it holds its mandated moment in the morning, and would keep that schedule “to minimize disruption to the learning environment.”

Broken Arrow Public Schools and Owasso Public Schools also said they would not observe a minute of silence at noon, citing the already-observed moment held at a different time. The additional one would “interrupt the instructional day at some sites and the lunch period at others,” the Broken Arrow district told KJRH.

Other districts intending to defy Walters order, citing the daily moment of silence they already observe, were Oklahoma City Public Schools, Norman Public Schools, Mustang Public Schools, Edmond Public Schools, Deer Creek School District and Union Public Schools, according to KOCO and KJRH.

The schools refusing Walters’ order “reveals just how out of step these districts are with Oklahoma families,” Walters said in a statement emailed to CNN.

“It speaks volumes that the same schools rushing to host pride parades, promote BLM rallies, and strip American flags from students can’t spare even a moment of silence for a man who dedicated his life to America, truth, and faith,” Walters said.