Epic Charter Schools Terminates Contract With Co-Founders

After 10 years working together, Epic Charter Schools has cut ties with their co-founders and ended its contract with their management company.

Friday, May 28th 2021, 10:01 am



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After 10 years working together, Epic Charter Schools has cut ties with their co-founders and ended its contract with their management company.

The board unanimously voted to end the relationship with co-founders Ben Harris and David Chaney at a Wednesday meeting. The board also ended its contract with management company Epic Youth Services.

"We had a choice: We could continue to do things the way we were doing or we could chart a new path and that path resulted in us saving $40 million to funnel back into our students and families so it was an easy decision for us,” Epic Charter Schools deputy superintendent Shelly Hickman said.  

The district said EYS will pay the school's administrative cost penalties for the past two fiscal years. It will also pay money Epic believes it owes the State Department of Education’s Oklahoma Cost Accounting System included in the state’s audit of Epic.  

Hickman said the move will save the school district around $40 million. They plan to put that money into resources for parents and students.

According to Hickman, parents of the more than 36,000 Epic students enrolled for next year will notice a change in software.  

"Their system is going to be so much easier for our parents and teachers to use, and it's going to cost a fraction of what we were spending before,” Hickman said.  

The decisions made by the board caught the eye and approval of state

Representative Sheila Dills of Tulsa.  

“It is refreshing to see the largest school district in the state make prudent decisions that put students first,” Dills said.

The termination of the contract will go into effect on July 1.

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