The audit claimed Epic once received as much as $60,000 a year from Edlighten Learning Services. The audit also found that Epic leaders, including Brock and Harris, were included in several emails concerning financial decisions. In 2016, California’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team performed an audit of Edlighten Learning Solutions and found the nonprofit used the same Oklahoma City address as Epic on several tax forms. VanAcker did not respond to a phone call or email requesting comment.īeyond Five Points Technology, Epic has business dealings with other organizations partly managed by Epic employees, including the California nonprofit Edlighten Learning Solutions, which once paid Epic Youth Services $103,000 for consulting work, according to an IRS form reviewed by The Frontier.Įdlighten Learning Solutions, which is the charter management organization of Oxford Prep Academy in California, lists Josh Brock, Epic’s chief financial officer as its own CFO, according to a filing with the state of California.
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The investigation looked into communications between Harris and VanAcker concerning violations of the state’s bidding process but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish criminal intent or a quid pro quo. Harris and Chaney have drawn the attention of law enforcement before, including 16 years ago in Florida when both were investigated for accepting trips and dinners from companies looking to contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families, an agency both men worked for.Īt the time, VanAcker worked for the Florida State University Institute for Health and Human Services, according to an documents produced by the investigation. The fast growing school system - topping 28,000 students this school year - has drawn the attention of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, where investigators claim the school has falsified enrollment records and that Chaney and Harris split at least $10 million in state funding that was sent to Epic.Įpic has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been brought against the school or its employees.
The connection between Epic and Five Points Technology is just one example of how some of the state funding sent to Epic moves to companies and nonprofits managed by Epic staff or individuals with close ties to the virtual charter school, according to a review of tax records, audits and invoices by The Frontier.
VanAcker was once listed as the principal officer for Community Strategies, the nonprofit doing business as Epic Charter Schools. That private charter management company is called Epic Youth Services and is a for-profit company owned by Harris and David Chaney. I asked and was informed that Five Points does work for the private charter management company.” In an email to The Frontier, Epic spokeswoman Shelly Hickman said, “Epic Charter Schools does not have a contract or any financial relationship with Five Points.
It’s unknown how much Epic pays for Five Points Technology’s services because the transaction does not appear in a line item register for Epic One on One, the virtual school operated by Harris’ company. For parents of Epic Charter School students, viewing their child’s grades or re-enrolling them for next semester is as easy as logging into the online “Parent Portal,” a Web-based resource that is an expected feature for a virtual school that offers students the chance to take classes completely online.īut when parents login to the portal from Epic’s main website, they are taken to a site operated by Five Points Technology Group, Inc., a Florida-based company managed by Elizabeth VanAcker, the wife of Epic co-founder Ben Harris, who is also the co-owner of the private company that oversees Epic charter schools and receives a portion of its state funding.
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