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The Ardmoreite
handing out the annual free him the fair is always a hap-
OKLAHOMA WATCH
More schools offering full-time virtual programs
By Mia Mamone
Oklahoma Watch
Melanie Brungardt’s four chil-
dren were frustrated at school.
Brungardt, of Oklahoma City,
said some Putnam City Schools
classes had too many students, and
teachers were forced to spend more
time on behavioral issues and less
time on instilling knowledge. She
understood teachers’ challenges,
but “as a parent, you hate sending
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
SEE FAIR, PAGE 3A
your kid to school all day to not
learn anything.”
The family considered homes-
chooling but decided against it –
and ruled out virtual charter schools
– because her kids didn’t want to
miss out on sports and band. So
they opted for something else: Put-
nam City’s own full-time virtual
program.
In recent years, most of the atten-
tion on online education has been
on virtual charter schools such as
Epic, whose enrollment has soared
to more than 24,000. The school is
being investigated for alleged fraud
and misuse of public funds, which
Epic denies.
Less visible is the growing num-
ber of brick-and-mortar districts
that are offering full-time online
programs.
The state doesn’t track the num-
ber of districts with online courses
SEE WATCH, PAGE 7A
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The Ardmoreite

these schools is the same “We don’t have a lot of data yet. But cates for more research Union, said teachers
WATCH one that troubles virtual our ACT results have been higher than on virtual and blended intervene quickly when
Continued from Page 1A charters: Is the quality programs and other class- online students fall be-
of online education the they were in brick-and-mortar.” room innovations in tra- hind, which could affect
same as that of in-person — Cleveland Superintendent Aaron Espolt ditional school districts. the success rate.
or how many students instruction? School offi- Overall, the more that “If they’re not meeting
are enrolled part-time or cials aren’t really sure. students in both fully or certain academic bench-
full-time. But a check of shortcuts. and say, ‘Good luck,’ but
Many districts have we are actively engaged partially virtual programs marks, they’re pulled in
district websites and oth- are in direct contact with face to face. They don’t
er web sources indicates A Need for Data application processes in their education.”
teachers, especially in get to stay on their own,”
at least 20 districts offer that ensure both virtual
Steffie Corcoran, a students and their par- -person, the better. he said. “So it’s hard to
such programs. spokeswoman for the ents understand what is Troubling “Children need to be say whether they’re doing
Supplemental online Oklahoma State De-
courses have been avail- partment of Education, expected of them. They National Picture seen and heard,” said Dr. better because they’re in
Gary Miron, a Western the blended model, just
able in traditional schools said virtual programs are stress that online learning In a 2019 report from Michigan University pro- because we have those
since at least 2010 and governed by locally elect- is not an easier path and the National Education fessor who contributed to safeguards.”
are required by law. But ed school boards, which students should be moti- Policy Center, research- the policy center report. Oklahoma Watch is a
more students and par- still must meet state and vated. School officials say ers found a “surprisingly Some Oklahoma school nonprofit, tax-exempt,
ents are seeking full-time federal standards. Dis- their learning manage- low” number of virtual administrators said stu- 501(c)(3) corporation
virtual education, and tricts aren’t required to ment systems safeguard and blended schools with dents in virtual programs whose mission is to pro-
districts are reshaping measure differences in against cheating or pla- available performance appear to be succeeding duce in-depth and inves-
their models to accom- success between partial- giarism. Sand Springs ratings. at the same rate as their tigative journalism on
modate them. Virtual Academy now For the fully virtual
ly or fully virtual students brick-and-mortar coun- public-policy and quali-
The programs offer and traditional students. requires online students academies that did, “far terparts. ty-of-life issues facing the
advantages over virtual Many districts have only to use their webcams and more district-operated Gart Morris, executive state.
charter schools because implemented their online share their screens during schools achieved accept- director of instruction-
students retain access to programs in recent years exams to verify that they able school performance al technology at Tulsa
campus amenities such as and don’t have the data are the ones doing the ratings (56.7% accept-
libraries, gyms, clubs, and yet to make comparisons. work and not opening ad- able) than charter-op-
sports and arts programs. ditional tabs. erated schools (40.8%).”
Some districts, like Putnam City Virtual
This allows students to Cleveland, are watching The same was true for
stay connected to their some metrics. This school uses Odysseyware for its blended learning, with
community, school lead- year will be its first to online curriculum. Cory district-run schools per-
ers say. Students can cus- offer a fully virtual pro- Boggs, executive director forming better.
tomize a blend of online gram and the third for a of information technol- The report recom-
and in-person classes. ogy, said that all online
blended program, which students are paired with mends requirements
“It’s about choice and Superintendent Aaron that would lower stu-
what fits the kids,” said Espolt said has been suc- a school counselor to en- dent-teacher ratios in
Jay Rotert, director of cessful so far. sure they are meeting all virtual and blended
Sand Springs Virtual graduation requirements
“We don’t have a lot and keeping up with their schools. For the 2016-17
Academy, which began of data yet,” Espolt said. school year, the averages
offering a fully virtual “But our ACT results grades. in the study were about
K-12 program this year. “The district is in con-
have been higher than stant contact with these 44 to 1 for all fully virtual
Some school officials they were in brick-and- schools, 34 to 1 for blend-
say the trend is being mortar.” students as well,” Boggs ed virtual schools and 16
driven by a need to stay said. “We don’t just turn to 1 for all schools.
Some online programs
relevant in a technolog- raise questions. Their it over to somebody else The report also advo-
ical world. But another courses may rely on
factor is Epic Charter teaching done through
Schools’ drawing stu- curriculum systems like 10 YEAR WARRANTY PARTS & LABOR
dents away from district Odysseyware, which pro- ON ALL
schools. vides remote instruction
Pawhuska Superin- by certified teachers not
tendent David Cash told affiliated with the district.
a Bartlesville radio sta- Many of the teachers are WASHERS AND DRYERS
tion that the district will likely out of state. Other until Sept. 30, 2019
offer a virtual academy concerns have to do with Most washers don’t last 10 years,
this year to counter Ep- whether certain students ours are guaranteed! 10 years parts and labor.
ic’s growing popularity in will fall behind or be 1023 WEST BROADWAY
Osage County. tempted to cheat or take ARDMORE, OK
The question that nags 580-223-3488

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The Express-Star
1HZV
Former Epic teachers sue school over firing, alleging enrollment manipulation
By Jennifer Palmer
Oklahoma Watch
Two former teachers have filed
lawsuits against Epic Charter
Schools, alleging they were fired
for pushing back against pressure to
manipulate the enrollment of their
students.
Notices that the teachers intended
to sue were previously filed with
the school, as reported by Oklaho-
ma Watch in June. Two other teach-
ers who filed notices have not yet
filed lawsuits.
The lawsuits, by Noelle Waller
and Shauna Atchley, also raise
issues with the virtual school’s
employment practices, such as its
bonus-pay system. Waller was hired
in 2013 and Atchley in 2017; both
were fired in June 2018 and say
they are owed all or part of their
bonus payment for the 2017-18
school year.
Epic previously has denied the
allegations. The lawsuits were filed
Friday in Oklahoma County Dis-
trict Court; Epic’s lawyers have not
yet filed responses.
Both lawsuits allege Epic recruit-
ed teachers based on a bonus struc-
ture that allows teachers an oppor-
tunity to earn double their base
salary. Teachers were told they
could earn significantly more at
OPIOID
7KXUVGD\6HSW ([SUHVV6WDU 3A
Epic than other schools.
However, Epic pays out the
bonuses the following year, and
only if employees are still employed
with Epic t the time.
“Epic’s business model depended
on terminating a significant number
of teachers, while retaining the stu-
dents that the teachers had recruit-
ed,” Waller’s lawsuit alleges.
Waller, in the lawsuit, alleges her
principal, Jodie Shupe, insisted cer-
tain students be withdrawn from
her roster for truancy and those stu-
dents always happened to be low-
performing based on benchmarking
exams. She says the pressure to
withdraw increased in January or
February, as state testing CNHI Oklahoma
approached.
An Epic Charter School administrative office building is seen on 122nd Street in northwest
Atchley, too, alleges her princi- Oklahoma City. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch
pal, Kristie Surface, pressured her
to withdraw students, told her “she sue, an attorney for the school says minated for failing to comply with
needed to dump all her students that Waller was fired for other reasons, the employee agreement and hand-
reduced bonuses” and once called a such as failing to comply with an book, and her relationship with her
low-performing student a “waste of employee agreement and handbook, pet monkey, which Epic says she
time,” according to the lawsuit. inappropriate conduct, parent com- brought to a testing site without
Principals also receive bonus pay- plaints, habitual poor performance, authorization.
ments based on students’ scores. unprofessional and rude behavior An attorney representing Atchley
Waller says Epic terminated her and repeatedly bringing a weapon and Waller says those reasons are
employment citing her students’ into a testing site. false and weren’t raised before the
test scores. She says her scores Similarly, Atchley says at the teachers were fired. Waller has told
were lower than other teachers’ in time she was fired, Epic cited “per- Oklahoma Watch the “weapon” was
part because she refused to with- formance issues.” But in a response, a cane.
draw students who did not test well. an attorney for Epic alleges Atch- Both teachers are asking the judge
In Epic’s response to her intent to ley’s employment was actually ter- to award them at least $75,000.
ARREST
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The Norman Transcript
Former Epic teachers sue over firing
By Jennifer Palmer
Oklahoma Watch
Two former teachers have
filed lawsuits against Epic Char-
ter Schools, alleging they were
fired for pushing back against
pressure to manipulate the en-
rollment of their students.
Notices that the teachers
intended to sue were previ-
ously filed with the school, as
reported by Oklahoma Watch
in June. Two other teachers who
filed notices have not yet filed
lawsuits.
The lawsuits, by Noelle Waller
and Shauna Atchley, also raise
issues with the
virtual school’s
employment
practices, such
as its bonus
pay system.
Waller was hired
in 2013 and
Atchley in 2017; both were fired
in June 2018 and say they are
owed all or part of their bonus
payment for the 2017-18 school
year.
Epic has previously denied the
allegations. The lawsuits were
filed Friday in Oklahoma Coun-
ty District Court; Epic’s lawyers
have not yet filed responses.
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Both lawsuits allege Epic
recruited teachers based on
a bonus structure that allows
teachers an opportunity to earn
double their base salary. Teach-
ers were told they could earn
significantly more at Epic than
other schools.
However, Epic pays out the
bonuses the following year, and
only if employees are still em-
ployed with Epic at the time.
“Epic’s business model de-
pended on terminating a signifi-
cant number of teachers, while
retaining the students that the
teachers had recruited,” Waller’s
Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch
An Epic Charter School administrative office building is seen on 122nd Street in
See EPIC Page A3 northwest Oklahoma City.
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The Norman Transcript
Epic:
From Page A1
lawsuit alleges.
Waller, in the lawsuit,
alleges her principal, Jodie
Shupe, insisted certain
students be withdrawn
from her roster for truancy
and those students always
happened to be low-per-
forming based on bench-
marking exams. She says
the pressure to withdraw
increased in January or
February, as state testing
approached.
Atchley, too, alleges her
principal, Kristie Surface,
pressured her to with-
draw students, told her
“she needed to dump all
her students that reduced
bonuses” and once called a
low-performing student a
“waste of time,” according
to the lawsuit.
Principals also receive
bonus payments based on
students’ scores.
Waller says Epic termi-
nated her employment
citing her students’ test
scores. She says her scores
were lower than other
teachers’ in part because
she refused to withdraw
students who did not test
well.
In Epic’s response to her
intent to sue, an attorney
for the school says Waller
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
was fired for other reasons,
such as failing to comply
with an employee agree-
ment and handbook, inap-
propriate conduct, parent
complaints, habitual poor
performance, unprofes-
sional and rude behavior
and repeatedly bringing a
weapon into a testing site.
Similarly, Atchley says
at the time she was fired,
Epic cited “performance
issues.” But in a response,
an attorney for Epic alleges
Atchley’s employment
was actually terminated
for failing to comply with
the employee agreement
and handbook, and her
relationship with her pet
monkey, which Epic says
she brought to a testing site
without authorization.
An attorney representing
Atchley and Waller says
those reasons are false and
weren’t raised before the
teachers were fired.
Waller has told Okla-
homa Watch the “weapon”
was a cane.
Both teachers are asking
the judge to award them at
least $75,000.
Oklahoma Watch is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan media
organization that produces
in-depth and investigative
content on a range of public-
policy issues facing the state.
For more Oklahoma Watch con-
tent, go to oklahomawatch.org.