Statewide charter review gives EPIC 70.64 score; academics lag behind financial and governance results
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Summary
The Statewide Charter School Board presented its 2023–24 annual performance framework to the EPIC ONE ON ONE CHARTER SCHOOL board, showing an overall score of 70.64 with academic performance the lowest pillar and organizational performance the highest.
Skyler Lehi, director of school performance at the Statewide Charter School Board, told the EPIC ONE ON ONE CHARTER SCHOOL board on Sept. 11 that the school's annual performance framework score for 2023–24 was 70.64.
Lehi said EPIC’s academic score was 44.69% (7.15 of 16 possible points). He noted year-over-year gains on state tests in several grades even though EPIC did not meet statewide proficiency levels: “all grades did surpass the previous year's proficiency levels by at least 5% in math,” and third through eighth grades increased proficiency in English language arts by at least 5%.
On graduation, Lehi said EPIC did not meet the state’s 81% graduation-rate threshold for all seniors, but added that “of the 3,177 seniors enrolled on the first day of school who were within 6 credit hours of graduation, 94.27 percent of those seniors went on to graduate in that school year, 2023–24.”
Financially, Lehi said EPIC scored 84%, receiving 36 of 43 possible points; the audit for fiscal year 2023–24 was “unmodified with no findings” for the regulatory basis of accounting or OCAS. Organizational performance scored 94%; the only organizational point reduction noted was for student attendance, which EPIC posted at 70.87% compared with the state rate of 78.1%.
Lehi explained how the framework maps to renewal: a score of 75 or greater would trigger a letter-requesting renewal, scores of 60–74 require a reauthorization application, and scores below 60 raise the risk of nonrenewal. He said EPIC’s charter contract currently runs through June 30, 2030, and the board should expect application activity in 2029 if scores do not improve.
Board members asked how scores are used over time; Lehi said the review is based on the most recent year but that year-over-year measures are embedded so improvement can be reflected in current reports. Lehi said the charter board’s school performance division plans to work with EPIC leadership on aligning vision and documentation and on strategic planning.
The presentation concluded with Lehi recommending focus on academic testing areas and graduation/college-and-career-readiness buckets as the most direct means of improving the overall score.
