(The Center Square) - Epic Charter Schools is accused of fudging attendance records to receive thousands of dollars in state funds and of improperly handing out millions in bonuses, according to an investigation by the Oklahoma State Department of Education released Tuesday.
The report said the charter school system paid $8.6 million in bonuses to administration staff in June 2021 that were never approved by Community Strategies, the board that oversees the schools.
"These bonus payments were never approved by Community Strategies, exceeded employment agreements by at least $800,000 and resulted in one employee receiving 600% (six times) more than the amount in her employment contract despite being employed for only 35% of the school year," the report said.
The charter school system is addressing the issues raised, according to a statement from Superintendent Bart Banfield. Epic has reversed the "pay for performance" bonus system for administrators and revised employee contracts for fiscal year 2022, according to a statement.
School officials are also accused of inflating attendance records by marking students absent for 14 days, present for one and then repeating the same pattern, according to the report. State law requires virtual charter students that do not complete instructional activity in a 15-day period to be dropped from the school. Once a student is withdrawn, the funding is withdrawn as well.
"With the vast number of students with the 14-1-14 pattern, it appears Epic may have intentionally designed the algorithm in such a way that a large number of students were never absent on the 15th day, were not dropped from enrollment and Epic continued to receive funds for these students," according to the OSDE report.
The investigation shows that the school collected $780,000 in state money based on the attendance data.
"In the spring of 2021, I called for a full audit of our enrollment and truancy policies," Banfield said. "This resulted in additional training for all administrators and teachers. However, we have the same concerns as the OSDE regarding the algorithm and how it may be impacting our student enrollment report. This will take additional in-depth investigations by programmers who can understand the impact this software has on the data certified by Epic and shared with the OSDE."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister will make a recommendation to the State Board of Education that the school's virtual charter be placed on hold, according to a news release.
The accusations are not related to earlier allegations about the misuse of state funds for administrative purposes. The state caps the amount for administration at 5%, but the owners of a management company overseeing the schools received a 10% fee, according to previous reports. A 2020 audit showed Epic owed the state millions for exceeding the administrative cap, according to an audit by the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector.
OSDE withheld $9.1 million from the school for exceeding the cap, according to the reports.
"It is clear that serious challenges remain," Hofmeister said in the news release. "The OSDE investigative report starkly illustrates that Community Strategies and Epic must focus on developing and improving processes and procedures that are efficient, transparent and follow the letter of the law."
Banfield said he is aware Epic still has challenges.
"We have a new board of education and new executive leadership team committed to uncovering all and any issues and securing compliance with the State of Education," he said.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News