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Sunday, February 16, 2020

Oklahoma: EPIC Virtual Charter School Penalized $530,000 for Excessive Administrative Costs | Diane Ravitch's blog

Oklahoma: EPIC Virtual Charter School Penalized $530,000 for Excessive Administrative Costs | Diane Ravitch's blog

Oklahoma: EPIC Virtual Charter School Penalized $530,000 for Excessive Administrative Costs



There is not much to admire in Oklahoma’s penurious funding of its public schools. But there is one admirable law on the books. Schools are not permitted to spend excessive amounts on administrative overhead. And when they do, they are penalized.
Epic One on One virtual charter school has been penalized more than $530,000 for exceeding the state limit on administrative spending, a limit imposed by state statute meant to keep the bulk of state education funding in the classroom. 
Epic’s superintendent, Bart Banfield, was notified of the penalty last month, according to an email obtained by The Frontier through an open records request. 
The total penalty of $530,527.20 is based on Epic exceeding the allowable limits on administrative expenditures by 5.58 percent. 
School districts with more than 1,500 students are not allowed to spend more than 5 percent of expenditures on administrative costs, which includes salaries for CONTINUE READING: Oklahoma: EPIC Virtual Charter School Penalized $530,000 for Excessive Administrative Costs | Diane Ravitch's blog