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Breaking: "OK Audit finds Epic charter used Oklahoma teachers to instruct California online students." Continued updates on the findings @kfor https://twitter.com/AbreasetteTV/status/1311751055747829764
Auditor Cindy Byrd says as audits go-- this is the worst she has seen in her 23 years.
(thread)
-- The School paid almost $80 million into a "learning fund" which is managed by Ben Harris and David Chaney
-- The method Epic used to calculate its student enrollment is still a mystery – so we cannot confirm- that EYS was entitled to the nearly 80M they received
-- The School paid almost $80 million into a "learning fund" which is managed by Ben Harris and David Chaney
-- The method Epic used to calculate its student enrollment is still a mystery – so we cannot confirm- that EYS was entitled to the nearly 80M they received
(thread)
- Auditor received documents from the State of California confirming EYS-for profit used $203,000 from the Learning Funds - to help with expenses for Epic-California. That money was dedicated for Oklahoma children.
- Auditor received documents from the State of California confirming EYS-for profit used $203,000 from the Learning Funds - to help with expenses for Epic-California. That money was dedicated for Oklahoma children.
(thread) Audit found: Epic founders used Oklahoma school employees to run the California school. They used $210K of Oklahoma resources to develop their project in California. And they only paid the money back after our (Cindy Byrd) office discovered what had happened.
(thread) Harris and Chaney started the CA school by using the pledged credit of OK Epic Charter school. What that means is… they used School Bank Accounts as collateral to obtain a half-million dollar loan to run their for-profit venture in California.
(thread)
- The legislature puts a 5% cap on administration costs for school districts to make sure as much money as possible goes to the children.
- Epic exceeded that 5% cap on administrative overhead year after year
- By our (auditor) calculations, Epic owes the state $8.9M.
- The legislature puts a 5% cap on administration costs for school districts to make sure as much money as possible goes to the children.
- Epic exceeded that 5% cap on administrative overhead year after year
- By our (auditor) calculations, Epic owes the state $8.9M.
Summation from State Auditor: "From this thorough and exhaustive investigative audit, I remain concerned that the money is NOT getting to the students. The lack of cooperation and the roadblocks encountered was unprecedented in the experience of the State Auditor’s office."
(thread) *It doesn’t seem like our education dollars are balanced when I see Epic spent almost $3 million for a three month media blitz and used our tax dollars for their CA school….YET our classroom teachers are taking money away from their own families to buy school supplies"
Auditor Byrd continues: " We are sharing our findings with:
- The Office of the Attorney General
- The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
- The Oklahoma Tax Commission
- The Office of the Attorney General
- The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
- The Oklahoma Tax Commission
