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Epic Charter Schools Agrees To Major Reforms

Whitney Bryen
/
Oklahoma Watch
A sign is seen outside of 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City, where Epic Charter Schools leases 40,000 square feet for administrative use.

Some major reforms are coming to Epic Charter Schools that will keep the virtual behemoth open, following a settlement agreement between Epic and the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter Board on Monday.

Epic’s controversial learning fund will become public, financial reforms will be instituted and new oversight structures will be put in place.

Those are just a few of the changes Epic agreed to in a 16-page settlement agreement that ends the threat of termination for the virtual charter school.

The board's chairman Robert Franklin said shortly after the vote that the settlement should send a message to the schools overseen by the board.

"It's a clarion call to all Oklahoma virtual charter schools that governance and oversight must be managed transparently and with fidelity," Franklin said.

State auditor and attorney general's special counsel probes are ongoing. But the possibility of a closure next fall—which had been the potential outcome of termination proceedings—is gone.

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