Buoyed by a $30 million line of credit, Epic Charter School now has funds to survive the summer and a budget for the next academic year.
The virtual charter school’s governing board on Tuesday approved the line of credit from Regent Bank. The agreement requires the school to pay interest until October and make all repayments by June 2026, school spokesperson Rob Crissinger said.
A year of budgeting disarray left the public charter school with only $755,756, less than 1% of its $300.5 million general fund, to carry over to the 2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Crissinger said Epic needs extra funds to cover payroll and expenses for July when public schools receive no state funding payments.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Flory said Epic should be back on better fiscal footing this time next year, so “I hope to not have to come back here and ask for any more money.”
“I know it’s been a painful year, but I think the team I’m working with, we’re all committed,” he told Epic’s school board on Tuesday. “We’ll never be back here again.”
The school board also voted in favor of a 2026 fiscal year budget that projects $233.9 million in expenses, $75.9 million less than the 2025 fiscal year budget. The new budget anticipates $254.6 million in revenue, which is almost $46 million less than the previous year.
Flory said his staff built the budget from scratch by examining individual purchase orders and verifying whether each is a justified expense, a process known as zero-based budgeting.
Epic also made significant cuts to its spending this month by laying off 357 employees, eliminating and outsourcing certain course offerings, and closing its Blended Learning Centers in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas.
The school already laid off 144 employees in October after administrators overestimated expected enrollment by 4,000 students. Like all public schools, Epic receives funding from the state based on enrollment.
Superintendent Bart Banfield resigned last week after the layoffs, and Deputy Superintendent of Finance Jeanise Wynn left April 11. Flory stepped into the chief financial officer role from his previous position as Epic’s executive director of data analytics and accountability.
In 2020, the virtual charter school rapidly skyrocketed to 60,000 students, the largest school district in Oklahoma at the time. Now its enrollment is only half as much, forcing Epic’s leadership to right-size the budget.
Last week, Epic’s school board appointed a new treasurer, Daniel Haynes, and an assistant treasurer along with a new encumbrance clerk. The school also will select an external accountant and will disclose Epic’s up-to-date financial position with real-time budget dashboards, Flory said.
The school will be more conservative in the future, especially with its hiring practices, Flory said. It will focus on keeping funds concentrated on students, teachers and curriculum, he said.
“Anytime we’re going to hire, we’re going to have metrics-based hiring, especially on administrative positions,” Flory said. “We’re going to look across the organization and see (if) we have people who can take on additional duties. I’ve been with Epic — it’s my lucky 13th year — and we’ve gotten away from that.”
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