California School Districts Sue County for Approving a Charter Under Criminal Investigation
A Press release from:Two Anaheim School Districts Sue Orange County Board of Education Over Approval of ‘Educationally Unsound’ Charter Being Investigated for Fraud
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA — Anaheim Union High School District and Anaheim Elementary School District filed suit today in Orange County Superior Court, challenging a decision by the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) to approve EPIC charter school, despite it being under investigation for fraud in Oklahoma and despite the school board’s own staff recommendation to reject the petition as “educationally unsound.”
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction preventing Excellence Performance Innovation Citizenship (EPIC) from continuing to operate its K-12 virtual school, and ordering the Orange County Board of Education to revoke its charter.
“EPIC was illegally authorized by the Orange County Board of Education in violation of the Charter School Act,” AUHSD Superintendent Michael Matsuda said. “The county school board failed to exercise its oversight duty when the flawed petition first came before them. Instead, they approved it with conditions that were never met. The OCBE’s actions have left us with no recourse other than to seek this injunction.”
Supporting the two Anaheim school districts in seeking the injunction is constitutional scholar and founding dean of the UCI Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky.
“In approving EPIC’s petition, the Orange County school board acted California School Districts Sue County for Approving a Charter Under Criminal Investigation - NPE Action:
