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EPIC Blended Learning Charter officials report 6,139 family contacts, launch larger in-house student wellness team
Summary
At the Jan. 23 board meeting, EPIC Blended Learning Charter leaders detailed first-semester results from a newly expanded student wellness and support services team, including 6,139 family contacts, 636 mental-health referrals and 84 students flagged for active suicide planning (Aug.–Dec.).
Elizabeth Suddath, managing director of student wellness and support services at EPIC Blended Learning Charter, told the board on Jan. 23 that the district’s expanded wellness team made direct contact with 6,139 families between August and December.
The disclosure came as EPIC described a deliberate move to bring counseling, crisis intervention and other wraparound services in-house. "Since we started taking referrals this school year, our team as a whole has worked with 6,139 families," Suddath said.
Why it matters: EPIC serves tens of thousands of students statewide and leaders told the board the shift from largely outsourcing mental-health services to employing more staff internally is meant to reduce response time and improve follow-up. Suddath said the wellness team grew from seven members in 2023–24 to 29 this school year, including 16 counseling-services staff and specialized teams for mental health and resilience.
Key data presented by Suddath and team (August–December): 6,139 family referrals/contact events; about 2,600 counseling-service referrals; 636 referrals routed to mental-health partners for therapeutic services; 84 students identified as actively searching or discussing a suicide plan and contacted for intervention; roughly 2,300 in-house counselor meetings; about 2,500 students enrolled in a wellness course; 667 families who received direct support services (food, resource navigation); 532 weekend food backpacks distributed; and 1,692 students identified as experiencing homelessness.
Suddath said the in-house services change the district’s response model. "Prior to having these counseling services in house and on staff here at EPIC, every single referral that we had coming in was going out to an external mental health partner," she said. Bringing services under the district, she added, allows EPIC to follow up more directly and “help students more intentionally.”
The district also reported implementation of trauma-informed training: a summer training series reached more than 2,000 educators and the team held 47 principal-level wellness meetings to coordinate supports across sites. EPIC has a telehealth contract with the University of Oklahoma to deliver some physical-health services such as vision and dental screenings and telehealth visits, the presentation said.
Board members and staff described the work as a response to what they framed as a widespread mental-health need among students. Bart Banfield, superintendent, called the investments “strategic,” noting the district is transitioning more services under its own oversight to improve outcomes and accountability. Suddath said the team is already working with the district data group to link wellness contacts to academic and test-score outcomes in a future report.
The board asked how students are identified for contact. Suddath said referrals come from teachers, family enrollment forms, and direct parent emails or requests. On follow-up, she noted that the 6,139 figure represents referrals received (some families may have multiple contacts) and that the team makes direct outreach when a concern is flagged.
Board members praised the team’s work and asked staff to continue building the analysis that ties these nonacademic supports to student performance and engagement. The district said that linking wellness data to test-score trends will appear in a forthcoming report to the board.
