State Auditor Reveals Results Of Investigation Into Epic Charter Schools

The state auditor said Thursday that Epic Charter Schools violated state law in the way it handles its finances.

The state auditor said Epic Charter Schools mishandled tens of millions of dollars. Epic’s leaders said the whole audit is a fishing expedition and all for show.

Related Story: State Auditor Releases Part 1 Of State’s Investigative Audit Of Epic Charter Schools

Governor Kevin Stitt ordered the audit last year.

"We followed the governor's directive, and what we found was very disappointing," State Auditor Cindy Byrd said. Byrd said this is just the first part of their investigation and only focused on the funds held by Epic Charter Schools.

"The infrastructure of Epic Charter Schools is remarkably complex. I have seen a lot of fraud in my 23 years, and this situation is deeply concerning," Byrd said.

Byrd said more than $200,000 of Oklahoma taxpayer money was used to start a school in California. The audit also said the school paid a private management company called Epic Youth Services, $46 million. That company is run by Epic's founders.

The company used another $79 million to manage its Student Learning Fund.

"That is more than $125 million of student educational funds, transferred into a for-profit management company, with no transparency and no accountability," Byrd said.

The State of Oklahoma is suing to get the financial records for the student learning funds.

Epic Charter said "what we witnessed today was political theatrics." They said "our staff has spent thousands of hours responding to a seemingly endless fishing expedition... and to date we have paid $243,000 dollars for the audit."

They also said the report calls for changes to the law but doesn't assert that laws have been broken.

State investigators disagree.

"This is your money, and you deserve accountability. It appears Epic did not comply with laws and regulations for reporting requirements," Byrd said.

Byrd said their two dozen findings will be shared with the state attorney general, OSBI and tax commission as well as the IRS and the FBI.

To read the full report, click here.