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A trial date of Dec. 16 has been set in the ongoing legal dispute between the state auditor's office and @EpicCharter 's for-profit management company, Epic Youth Services. A thread to recap 1/8
A pair of OSBI search warrants filed last summer raised allegations of financial mismanagement and "ghost students" at the school, the state's largest virtual charter school. Epic denies wrongdoing. 2/8 https://oklahomawatch.org/2019/07/16/search-warrant-alleges-embezzlement-use-of-ghost-students-by-epic-schools/
In July 2019, @GovStitt and @joy4ok asked State Auditor Cindy Byrd to conduct an investigative audit of the school and "all related entities." 3/8 https://oklahomawatch.org/2019/07/19/for-those-in-charge-of-overseeing-epic-schools-has-it-been-hands-off/
Epic Youth Services refused to comply with the auditor's subpoenas. The attorney general's office, representing the state auditor, asked a judge to force Epic Youth Services to turn over the information. That was in March. 4/8
The legal dispute centers on the "learning fund", a portion of state dollars ($1,000 this year) that is set aside for each student to choose to spend on curriculum, activities, technology and other items. Epic Youth Services has received $69m since 2015 for the purchases. 5/8
The State Chamber and Rose State College asked to weigh in on the case via an amicus brief but were denied. The judge, however, ruled today she will allow the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to file one. 6/8
At Epic's California school, learning fund spending is public. We found the top recipients of these dollars were a home-school co-op and a Waldorf enrichment center that also caters to home-schooled students. 7/8 https://oklahomawatch.org/2020/08/03/in-oklahoma-epics-operator-refuses-to-release-spending-records-in-california-records-are-public/?_gl=1*9ry1w4*_ga*YW1wLVZsVHNJX1JPX3ZxR1BtR0ZJRTBDS2c.
Meanwhile, enrollment at @EpicCharter in Oklahoma continues to rise. The school says more than 40,000 students have enrolled for the 2020-21 school year, which started today. It's likely to surpass OKCPS as the state's largest school district. 8/8
