Epic Avoids Termination Hearing, Agrees To New Contract With Oklahoma State Board

Oklahoma state regulators overseeing Epic One-on-One Charter School voted on Monday to approve a settlement agreement with the district and to cancel an upcoming termination hearing. 

The vote ends a roughly seven-month-long saga between the district and its authorizer, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. The board threatened Epic with termination after a blistering report by the Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector in October. 

“Today’s vote moves us forward,” said SVCSB Chairman Dr. Robert Franklin after the vote to approve the settlement agreement. “It’s a clarion call to all Oklahoma public virtual charter schools that governance and oversight must be managed transparently.” 

The SVCSB board gave final approval to a settlement agreement which was approved by Epic’s Board of Education last week. In it, Epic agreed to several financial and administrative changes to address concerns of corruption in the audit. 

“We’re a stronger organization than we were 7 months ago,” said Shelly Hickman, Assistant Superintendent at Epic Charter Schools. “We’ve made lots of systemic improvements to strengthen our organization and we really look forward to the future.” 

A chief concern of the board was the separation of Epic One-on-One and its sister district, Epic Blended. Both shall be completely separate, according to the agreement, and employees from one will not report to the other. 

The agreement also stipulates Epic One-on-One must “retain ultimate oversight responsibility and authority” for the district, although it can contract with a management company. Its current managing company is Epic Youth Services, or EYS, a for-profit company. 

An SVCSB “Compliance Auditor” will follow Epic’s governing board meetings, review financial documents, and report back monthly to the board. 

One change included in the deal is to the district’s Student Learning Fund, which was previously managed by EYS. The fund will move to a public bank account under the management of Epic Charter Schools starting July 1. 

“We want to remove any doubt in the public and with government regulators that there’s anything inefficient or wrong about the way that that’s being operated,” Hickman said. 

Nearly $80 Million in state funding was contributed to the Learning Fund since 2015, according to the audit, through a 10% management fee that was collected from both Epic One-on-One and Epic Blended. EYS kept documents related to the funds “hidden behind a wall of privacy,” the audit report said. 

The report, created by State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd’s office, said their “access to these records and transparency for public accountability purposes is non-existent.” 

Byrd’s office filed a motion in Oklahoma County District Court more than 13 months ago to compel EYS to turn over documents related to the Student Learning Fund, which is ongoing litigation. 

The newly public status of the Learning Fund does not apply retroactively, Hickman said. Previous records are still under the management of EYS. She said Epic Charter Schools has complied with the auditor. 

“The school has already fully cooperated and turned over all records it has access to,” Hickman said. “It’s also my understanding that the private company is going to be sharing those records with the auditor through a protective order.” 

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister and Gov. Kevin Stitt both called for Byrd's office to conduct an investigative audit in 2019. Hofmeister issued the following statement in response to the new contract:

“I hope today’s resolution provides needed stability for families and students who’ve experienced uncertainty about the future," Hofmeister said. "Make no mistake, there are questions and issues that remain to be resolved, but these recent decisions are a significant step in the right direction.”

A spokesperson for Stitt said he had not been briefed on the meeting Monday afternoon and was not able to immediately comment.

Epic Charter Schools is made up of two separate school districts, Epic One-on-One, which offers statewide virtual instruction, and Epic Blended, which offers in-person and virtual classes in Tulsa and Oklahoma counties. Epic Blended is authorized by Rose State College and was never subject to termination. 

Enrollment in Epic Blended and One-on-One ballooned to 23,714 and 35,731, respectively, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. 

“We can now completely turn the page and start focusing on the next school year and making it the best yet for Epic,” Hickman said. 

The contract runs through June 30, 2024.