Published April 30, 2021 at 6:00 AM CDT Listen
This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU s Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and sitting in for Ryan Kiesel in ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Tamya Cox-Touré about the settlement between the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board and Epic Schools to avoid termination hearings along with new bills signed by the governor including one requiring a fiscal impact statement on initiative petitions and several more making it harder to get abortions.
The trio also discusses new laws cracking down on protests and overhauling the state s human resources system.
Grand jury: Epic system ripe for fraud By: Jennifer Palmer Oklahoma Watch May 10, 2021
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)
The state’s multicounty grand jury recently delivered a message to the public: demand more transparency and accountability of Epic Charter Schools, the state’s largest online charter school system.
The grand jury’s investigation of Epic began in October and isn’t completed yet. But it issued a 25-page interim report to inform the public, parents and policymakers detailing “concerning trends emerging in the investigation.” The grand jury wanted to make the information public before Epic receives its funding allocation for the 2021-22 school year.
By Jennifer Palmer | Oklahoma Watch May 7, 2021
3 hrs ago
The stateâs multicounty grand jury delivered a message to the public this week: demand more transparency and accountability of Epic Charter Schools, the stateâs largest online charter school system.
The grand juryâs investigation of Epic began in October and isnât completed yet. But on Thursday it issued a 25-page interim report to inform the public, parents, and policymakers detailing âconcerning trends emerging in the investigation.â The grand jury wanted to make the information public before Epic receives its funding allocation for the 2021-22 school year.
No indictments were issued. But it did urge policymakers to take swift action.
By: Barry Mangold
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 chairman of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board is calling this a step forward and a sign for all other virtual public charter schools for the future.
The biggest changes under the new settlement will make Epic s finances and operations more transparent, after an audit last year led to accusations of mismanagement of state funding.
The agreement includes making spending information from the Epic Learning Fund more visible to the public starting July 1.
Changes are also planned for Epic Youth Services, the private company previously in charge of operations.
Now, all personnel will report to the superintendent and board and Epic Youth Services will no longer be financially managing the school.