State Board ‘finally’ accepts Hofmeister’s call for Epic probation

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 29, 2022) – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister made the following remarks after yesterday’s State Board of Education vote to change Epic Charter School’s accreditation status to “Accredited with Probation.”

The vote follows the June 21 release of the Oklahoma State Department of Education‘s (OSDE) extensive investigative report revealing Epic certified flawed attendance data, had poor transparency and misallocated millions of dollars.

“Epic defrauded the state of millions of taxpayer dollars that were meant for children, and they should have been held accountable long ago. Yesterday, the State Board finally accepted my recommendation to put Epic Charter School on probation,” Hofmeister said. “It’s alarming that Governor Stitt’s appointees refused to take appropriate action following the state auditor’s investigative audit in 2020, and yet we’re seeing a similar pattern repeating now with the board’s shielding of accountability for a private school that has similar red flags as Epic.”