TULSA, Okla. — Epic Charter School is cutting more than 300 positions ahead of the next school year.
In a statement sent to 2 News Oklahoma, a spokesperson said the district made cuts to "align our resources with our educational priorities and to ensure Epic’s continued success in serving our students and families."
The district fired 357 employees, including 83 teachers and 274 administrative staff.
Epic is phasing out the 'Learning Center' model and focusing only on the Epic one-on-one model and the Comet Academy model. This means the district will no longer offer full-day in-person instruction Monday through Friday. Meal services for breakfast and lunch will no longer be provided.
One-on-One model: In this model, your student will be matched with an Oklahoma-certified teacher who has a roster of approximately 30 students of all ages and grade levels. Because One-on-One teachers work with students at all grade levels, students may retain the same teacher throughout their Epic journey.
Comet Academy model: Comet Academy serves students PreK - 10th grade (highly recommended for PreK and Kindergarten) who desire more in-person instruction.
Comet Academy is geographically focused and grouped according to the four levels of education including Early Childhood (Pre-K – 2nd grade), Elementary (3rd – 5th grade), Middle School (6th – 8th grade) and High School (9th and 10th grade), meaning your student would be part of a class with other students of a similar age who also live in your area.
“We are grateful to every member of the Epic team for the passion and care they bring to our community,” said Superintendent Bart Banfield. “This transition is about preserving and strengthening our ability to serve students for years to come. We are committed to supporting those impacted with compassion and transparency.”
Epic serves 30,000 students and families across the state. They said these changes are essential to maintain long-term sustainability with a high quality educational experience.
2 News is looking into this and will keep updating as we learn more.
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