Epic Charter Schools’ reconstituted governing board met Tuesday night to approve a more than $335 million budget.
An increase in public funding from the state legislature will benefit Epic, as the virtual charter behemoth estimates it will receive a 20% increase in per pupil funding.
That percentage increase comes as enrollment is likely to decline. Epic officials said during the meeting after reaching a high of 55,000 students, they project 45,000 will attend Epic next fall.
In the previous school year, virtual charters like Epic saw an enrollment explosion, as parents and students sought out online learning amid the pandemic.
But a return to traditional schools was always likely. An NPR/Ipsos poll this spring found that only about a third of parents wanted to stick with remote learning.