For the first time in Epic Charter School’s history, its next superintendent will be a newcomer hired from outside the virtual charter school.
Epic’s governing board, with four of its five members present, unanimously voted Thursday to hire Shaun Ross from Oklahoma City Public Schools, where he is senior executive director of student support and accountability.
Ross, who wasn’t present for the vote, will earn an annual salary of $250,000. He will start at Epic “as soon as possible,” but the date of his first day on the job is still uncertain, board chairperson Trevor Hammons said.
In a news release issued an hour after the board made its decision, Ross said it’s an “honor” to be selected. He plans to lead the long-embattled school system into a new era of stability, continuity and academic excellence, according to the announcement.
“Epic has been through what it’s been through and learned so many valuable lessons,” Ross said. “It’s time to move forward, leave the past behind and double down on our commitment to student success.”
The Oklahoma City district didn’t immediately return a request for comment Thursday afternoon. Ross formerly worked as an instructional leadership director and a principal in the district before stepping into its senior administration this year.
Interim Superintendent Justin Hunt will continue leading Epic until Ross arrives. The board voted Thursday to award Hunt a $15,000 stipend, set his salary at $235,000 a year and gave him a new title of assistant superintendent.
Hunt, Epic’s deputy superintendent of instruction, took on the interim role in June after Superintendent Bart Banfield resigned amid mass layoffs at the school. Banfield became Epic’s second-ever superintendent when he was promoted into the role in 2019, succeeding school co-founder David Chaney.
The $15,000 stipend rewards Hunt for “doing two jobs” for the past six months, Hammons said. He’s been leading the school system while continuing the duties of his original position.
“Justin has done an incredible job as the interim, keeping the ship afloat,” Hammons said after the board meeting. “And as you saw today, we still have a lot of confidence in Justin and want him to stay on and continue helping Epic into the future.”
Epic, with nearly 30,000 students, is Oklahoma’s third-largest public school district and the biggest of the state’s virtual charter schools, which use primarily online instruction.
Its open superintendent position attracted 54 candidates from 17 states, said Erin Hatfield, the school’s director of public relations. The “exhaustive” six-month search involved three rounds of interviews that culminated in the board’s decision Thursday between three finalists, she said.
Hammons declined to confirm any of the finalists’ names besides Ross, nor would he say whether Hunt was one of them.
The board wasn’t expressly searching for a superintendent from outside the organization, Hammons said. Rather, Ross impressed the board in each of his three interviews as “incredibly qualified” and “really personable.”
“Shaun just happened to be from the outside and happened to be the best candidate, as the board voted,” Hammons said. “It’s going to be a challenge. We’re a school unlike any other in the state, maybe in the nation, but his background and his willingness and his attitude and also the people that are here that are going to help him, it’ll bring a new perspective to Epic, and hopefully that will really help us grow and just kind of move forward and get back to doing what we do best, which is educate the students.”
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