TULSA, Okla — Epic Charter Schools announced more than 350 Epic employee contracts are not being renewed for the 2025-2026 school year.
The school released a statement saying that 83 teachers and 274 administrative staff will not be returning next school year.
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Epic Charter School phasing out Learning Center, cuts 357 positions
WATCH: 'I'm upset': Parents devastated after Epic Charter Schools cuts 350+ jobs
They'll also phase out the Learning Center Model, which was the in-person learning section.
Instead, they'll focus on one-on-one tutoring and their hybrid Comet Academy. Breakfast and lunch meal services will also be cut.
According to the charter school, the cuts are being made to serve more students and eliminate the waiting list at their Tulsa and Oklahoma City locations.
Parents like Tamera Mckee Arndte said they’re devastated after hearing about the unexpected changes.
Mckee Arndte has a son who attended Epic for five years.
Because of the schedule changes, Mckee Arndte and her husband won't be able to work around their schedules to get their kids to school.
“In order for us to stay at Epic it would mean one of us giving up our job," she said. “All of the all the teachers are amazing, all of us have become like family. The parents have become like family."
Like many parents, Elizabeth Garcia agreed that the school didn't give parents any sort of advanced notice that these changes were taking place.
She has two sons currently attending Epic.
“It would have been nice to kind of have a heads up," said Garcia. "So that we could have options to look at. Because not every school is available right now. There's a lot of schools that are booked.”
Overall, it seems like parents are all feeling the same way.
“I'm upset," said Garcia. "I mean, that's really all I guess I can express, is it just, it's upsetting.”
“Being told that we can't go to Epic anymore makes it feel like we're being told we have to move out of our home," said Mckee Arndte. "It's become home to so many of us. I never thought of having to go somewhere else and how I don't know where to send my children.”
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