Oklahoma’s third-largest school district, Epic Charter School, has laid off 144 employees, including 42 teachers, and implemented pay cuts amid a financial shortfall from lower-than-expected enrollment.
Epic announced the reductions on Oct. 25 after 4,000 fewer students enrolled this school year than administrators anticipated, communications director Rob Crissinger said. The public, online-based charter school educates about 30,000 students across the state and receives state funds for every child enrolled.
Epic revealed the extent of the layoffs in a notice issued Thursday. The district said it reduced its total staff by 6.17%. That includes a 2.86% reduction to its teaching corps.
It employed 2,335 people, including 1,471 teachers, before the layoffs. About 50 employees accepted new positions within the district.
Additionally, all Epic administrators who earn $80,000 or more – a total of 331 people — accepted a 1% pay cut, Crissinger said.
All teachers who wished to continue working at Epic had to agree to reduce their minimum salary from $60,000 to $50,000, a change that decreased pay only for teachers with a roster of fewer than 28 students, according to an Oct. 25 announcement from the district’s top administrators.
The wage reduction depends on the person’s roster size and ranges from $109 less per paycheck for teachers with 27 students to about $650 less per paycheck for teachers with 23 or fewer students.
Crissinger said all but six teachers accepted the new minimum.
It is unclear how many educators are taking home a smaller paycheck, but the Oct. 25 announcement acknowledged that a “significant number of teachers currently have rosters with fewer than 28 students.”
“While we deeply appreciate the high-quality education you provide for our students, this situation presents a financial challenge that affects our ability to allocate resources efficiently,” Superintendent Bart Banfield and his leadership team wrote in the notice to teachers.
Epic enrolls new students throughout the school year, so it is possible a teacher’s roster could increase to the 28-student threshold, which would eliminate the pay cut, the district said Thursday.
Non-teachers in the district received a 2% pay increase in July for the 2024-25 school year, Crissinger said. Teachers received a 17% pay raise last year.
The current enrollment level of 30,000, though lower than expected, is an increase over the previous school year when Epic had about 27,000 students.
But, the number of students choosing Epic has largely declined since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the district’s enrollment to skyrocket to 60,000, the highest in the state at the time.
The enrollment shortfall this year caused a districtwide reorganization to right-size staffing and resources, Banfield said.
Epic administrators first trimmed expenses by halting out-of-state travel, canceling contracts with outside consultants, pausing technology integration projects, handling facility maintenance in-house and hosting employee events virtually rather in-person, which would have incurred extra mileage, venue and food costs, according to Thursday’s announcement.
“It has been a very challenging time for all of us at Epic, we recognize that, and we continue to move forward as the state’s third-largest school district, serving more than 30,000 students – and their families – who have entrusted us with their education,” Banfield said. “We are more committed now than ever to fulfilling our mission and aspirations for many years to come, together.”
Editor's note: Epic Charter School is a financial supporter of KOSU.
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