Epic Charter Schools approves $335 5 million annual budget oklahoman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from oklahoman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The co-founders of Epic Charter Schools, who often found themselves at the center of controversy, are no longer tied to the virtual charter school system.
Oklahoman
Epic Charter Schools on Wednesday severed all ties with its co-founders and restructured its school board, signaling a turning point for the embattled virtual charter school system.
Serving 52,000 students, Epic is the largest public school system in Oklahoma.
Ben Harris and David Chaney, who founded Epic in 2011, will no longer have any financial interest or control in the school system. Their company, Epic Youth Services, managed Epic since the school s inception.
Harris, Chaney and Epic have been embroiled in criminal investigations and reports of financial impropriety for years. The school system and its co-founders deny any wrongdoing.
The board of Community Strategies Inc. the board and nonprofit that govern Epic terminated the school system s contract with Epic Youth Services on Wednesday. Epic will not hire another charter management company.
Oklahoma Watch sues Epic Charter Schools, seeking emails
A sign outside of 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City, where Epic Charter Schools leases 40,000 square feet for administrative use. (Photo by Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
Oklahoma Watch and reporter Jennifer Palmer have filed a lawsuit against Epic Charter Schools, asking the court to order the release of emails under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. The news organization first requested the documents on July 26.
Specifically, the lawsuit named Epic Blended Learning Centers, Epic One-on-One Charter School, and Superintendent Bart Banfield as defendants. Epic is a public charter school funded by taxpayers.
Palmer requested the emails to and from Epic co-founder Ben Harris dated Jan. 1, 2019 through July 25, 2020 that used his Epic Charter Schools address. Email, like traditional written correspondence, is treated as a document under the state’s Open Records Act.
Charter schools slapped with new $10.5 million penalty by state Education Department
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (Tulsa World) Epic Charter Schools has been hit with another big financial penalty by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
For the second year in a row, education officials say Epic’s own spending reports to the state reflect administrative costs well above statutory limits for all public schools and the school remains out of compliance with mandatory school cost accounting.
The state’s largest school system was notified in a Wednesday letter that it is being assessed penalties totaling at least $10.5 million over the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30 for both its schools, Epic One-on-One and Epic Blended Learning Centers.