Poteau Daily News

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2020

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Enid News & Eagle
Epic’s finances include related companies, organizations
By Ben Felder
The Frontier
For parents of Epic Charter School stu-
dents, viewing their child’s grades or re-en-
rolling them for next semester is as easy
as logging into the online “Parent Portal,”
a Web-based resource that is an expected
feature for a virtual school that offers stu-
dents the chance to take classes completely
online.
But when parents log in to the portal
from Epic’s main website, they are taken to
a site operated by Five Points Technology
Group, a Florida-based company managed
by Elizabeth VanAcker, the wife of Epic
co-founder Ben Harris, who also is co-own-
er of the private company that oversees Epic
charter schools and receives a portion of its
state funding.
It’s unknown how much Epic pays for
Five Points Technology’s services because
the transaction does not appear in a line
item register for Epic One on One, the vir-
tual school operated by Harris’ company.
In an email to The Frontier, Epic spokes-
woman Shelly Hickman said, “Epic Charter
Schools does not have a contract or any
financial relationship with Five Points. I
asked and was informed that Five Points
does work for the private charter manage-
ment company.”
That private charter management com-
pany is called Epic Youth Services and is
a for-profit company owned by Harris and
David Chaney.
VanAcker was once listed as princi-
pal officer for Community Strategies, the
nonprofit doing business as Epic Charter
Schools.
The connection between Epic and Five
One of Epic’s blended learning centers is located in a former elementary school in Midwest City that is owned
by Rose State College. (Ben Felder / The Frontier)
Points Technology is just one example of
how some of the state funding sent to Epic
moves to companies and nonprofits man-
aged by Epic staff or individuals with close
ties to the virtual charter school, according
to a review of tax records, audits and invoic-
es by The Frontier.
The fast growing school system — top-
ping 28,000 students this school year —
has drawn the attention of Oklahoma State
Bureau of Investigation, where investiga-
tors claim the school has falsified enroll-
ment records and that Chaney and Harris
split at least $10 million in state funding
that was sent to Epic.
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Epic has denied any wrongdoing, and
no charges have been brought against the
school or its employees.
Beyond Five Points Technology, Epic
has business dealings with other organiza-
tions partly managed by Epic employees,
including the California nonprofit Edlighten
Learning Solutions, which once paid Epic
Youth Services $103,000 for consulting
work, according to an IRS form reviewed
by The Frontier.
Edlighten Learning Solutions, which is
the charter management organization of
Oxford Prep Academy in California, lists
Josh Brock, Epic’s chief financial officer as
its own CFO, according to a filing with the
state of California.
Two schools, two sponsors
Epic Youth Services oversees Epic One-
on-One, a completely virtual school, and
Epic Blended, a school that combines virtu-
al and in-person instruction.
Tasked with overseeing Epic One on
One is the Statewide Virtual Charter School
Board, while Epic’s separate blended
school, with more than 10,000 students, is
sponsored by Rose State College.
As its sponsor, Rose State College
received more than $1.1 million in admin-
istrative fees last year, a welcome financial
boost following years of declining enroll-
ment and state funding.
Last year, Rose State College also signed
a five-year contract with Epic to take over a
former elementary school in Midwest City
owned by the college.
Epic uses the building for a blended
school site and covers maintenance and
operational costs, according to a lease
agreement obtained by The Frontier through
See EPIC, Page A3
 Enid News & Eagle
tional films to their own category.
Feb EPIC
10 Continued from Page A1
2020 an open records request.
“Epic is going to be
wonderful to work with,”
Page Kent Lashley, Rose State
A003 College vice president of
administrative services, told
Clip
resized the campus newspaper last
50% year. “They are going to
make the building look a lot
From better, cleaner and safer; it’s
A001 been a great partnership all
around.”
Lashley, who is listed as
the primary contact on the
university’s contract with
Epic, is married to Amanda
Lashley, Epic’s special edu-
cation principal.
Hickman said the rela-
tionship between a Rose
State College and Epic
administrators is not a con-
flict of interest because
neither can approve school
contracts or have any over-
sight of school contracts.
Kent Lashley also said
there is no conflict of inter-
est.
“I am not the decision
making authority for the
college,” Lashley said in an
email to The Frontier. “Our
Board of Regents voted and
approved the charter and
provides oversight. The
relationship has no bear-
ing on the board’s deci-
sions regarding Rose State
College or it’s charter with
Epic Charter Schools.”
“Of course there’s con-
flict of interests every-
where,” said Sen. Ron
Sharp, R-Shawnee, who has
been a vocal critic of Epic.
Sharp said his review of
Epic One on One’s expens-
es makes him wonder what
the for-profit company that
receives millions from the
school is doing with that
money.
Epic charter schools
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
up again for best director, Bong
lease office space at 50 Penn
Place in Oklahoma City for
$19,470 a month and an
office on 122nd Street for
$4,641 a month. Both leas-
es are paid by Epic One on
One, according to the line
item register obtained by
The Frontier.
More than $2.5 million
also was spent on technol-
ogy services out of the Epic
One on One account.
Epic One on One’s line
item register also shows
payments for staff salaries,
numerous education consul-
tants, tutoring programs and
leases for testing spaces.
While Epic One on One
appears to pay for the bulk
of expenses typical of a vir-
tual school, the school paid
Epic Youth Services more
than $21 million in 2018.
“A charter manage-
ment organization is a pri-
vate entity,” said Hickman,
Epic’s spokeswoman
and the school’s assistant
superintendent of commu-
nication. “Private entities
contract with whom they
believe is going to pro-
vide the best services and
they are allowed to do that
because they are private
companies.”
Emails to Harris and
Chaney seeking comment
were not returned.
While Hickman said she
couldn’t speak to the financ-
es of Epic Youth Services,
she said the virtual charter
school itself has taken steps
to be as transparent as pos-
sible, especially after last
year’s OSBI investigation
was made public.
For example, Hickman
said the school board for
Epic recently hired an inde-
pendent auditor who will
which had echoes of the surprise
report directly to the board.
“That is something that
is very unique to schools
and we hope that action
shows policy members and
the public how committed
we are to transparency,”
Hickman said.
While Hickman said
Epic would be happy to
respond to any recommen-
dations from an audit in an
effort to improve financial
practices, the allegations
made by OSBI have not
resulted in any charges.
“We have been fully
cooperating with any inves-
tigators and I think we
have shown we can with-
stand this type of scruti-
ny,” Hickman said. “Words
have been used (by the
OSBI and the media) like
‘fraud,’ ‘pyramid scheme,’
and ‘racketeering,’ but there
have been absolutely no
findings to support those
accusations.”
Growth and attention
Epic’s rapid growth and
aggressive advertising cam-
paign on television, radio
and in newspapers has
drawn attention in recent
years, including criticism
from some who question the
school’s spending practices
at a time when education
funding is tight for most
public schools.
Nearly a dozen bills have
been filed this year related
to virtual charter schools,
including proposals to ban
spending on advertisements,
changes in attendance pol-
icies and giving the state
Board of Education direct
oversight over virtual char-
ter schools.
But Epic has been
lined with the
‘H
Co
aggressive in protecting its gr
interest at the state Capitol dr
as its founders, lobby- es
ist and more than a dozen Fi
other individuals with ties
to the school have donated Fi
nearly $200,000 to polit- su
ical campaigns in recent
years. Recipients included do
State Superintendent Joy the
Hofmeister and Attorney Hu
General Mike Hunter. the
Epic’s lobbyist, Robert wi
Stem, a former Epic board
member who also represents he
other clients, spent nearly “b
$1,300 last year on meals
for legislators. no
Despite the ongoing mu
investigation, Epic has been m
aggressive in responding to “W
criticism, which includes fil- gr
ing a lawsuit against Sharp, the
who has expressed his criti- an
cism of Epic and filed bills so
to alter the way virtual char-
ters are managed. wa
In the lawsuit, Epic Fi
accuses Sharp of libel and Ok
slander through various wi
statements to the media.
But even amid the scru- do
tiny Epic has received in
recent years, student enroll- &
ment continues to grow. de
Epic leaders said their the
growth is proof its model is
desired by many Oklahoma un
parents, especially those ac
with students who are at
risk of dropping out of a Fi
traditional school because an
of problems with academ- ap
ics, mental health or bul- an
lying.
“These families came
to us because something
wasn’t right in their previ-
ous school,” Hickman said.
The Frontier is a nonprofit focusing on
investigative and watchdog journalism.
For more information or to donate, go
to www.readfrontier.org.