![]() ![]() In recent months, the college has had conversations with at least four other charter schools about becoming their authorizer - including Santa Fe South Schools, a 3,500-student charter school system currently authorized by the Oklahoma City Public Schools district.Ĭhris Brewster, superintendent of Santa Fe South, acknowledged he has had conversations with Rose State College, but said no agreement is in place.īrewster also said he doesn’t believe his school will renew its contract with the Oklahoma City district after it expires at the end of the school year. In 2017, Rose State College became the sponsor of Epic blended school, which is part of the Epic virtual school system that a state auditor recently accused of serious financial mismanagement.Īs Epic’s authorizer, which is tasked with providing oversight and acting as a fiscal agent, Rose State College has received more than $3.7 million in tax dollars from sponsorship fees, which are 3 percent of the state education funds sent to Epic. The move could allow the college to receive millions in additional tax dollars and alter the education landscape of Oklahoma City. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at or on Twitter at Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at /subscribe.Rose State College, a public, two-year institution in Midwest City that has experienced years of enrollment and funding declines, is positioning itself as a haven for charter schools dissatisfied with their current authorizer or facing financial struggles. Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. "On behalf of the school, I wanted to apologize to him for what he went through." "This school was weaponized back previously with the prior management company and (was) used inappropriately, really, against Sen. Epic also must pay Sharp $35,000 to cover his attorney fees.Įpic's school board agreed Wednesday to pay Sharp. ![]() Sharp was Epic Charter Schools' most vocal critic in the state Legislature while he held office.Īn Oklahoma County district judge dismissed the lawsuit and awarded Sharp $500,000 in an anti-SLAPP ruling. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, speaks in a Senate Education Committee meeting at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Feb. ![]() It has authorized Epic One-on-One since 2015.įormer state Sen. The consolidated Epic will now answer to only one authorizer, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, a small state agency that oversees Oklahoma's six virtual charter schools. Rose State earned $3.7 million from Epic over the 2015-2020 fiscal years. A charter school authorizer earns 3% of the school's state revenue in exchange for giving oversight and approving a charter's right to operate in Oklahoma. Oklahoma law prohibits money appropriated to one school district from flowing to another.Ī third entity in charge of Epic Blended, Rose State College, will no longer authorize the school. The Oklahoma State Department of Education confirmed its approval of the consolidation on Friday.Īnother agency overseeing Epic, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, encouraged the merger as a way to avoid improper commingling of funds between the two districts. "It takes a tremendous amount of administrative burden off this team trying to navigate two school districts when we were always operating really as one." "This is a huge step forward," Campbell said during the board meeting. ![]() Budgets for both districts have combined into one $266 million pot.īoard Chairperson Paul Campbell said Epic projects the consolidation could save at least $4 million through improved efficiency. Employees will work for one school district instead of two. Epic students will no longer enroll in one branch or the other. ![]()
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