Virtual board member files suit
Hamrick was recused from Epic Charter work
A member of the state agency overseeing virtual education is suing that same agency to overturn his dis-qualification from discussions and votes on Epic Charter Schools.
Mathew Hamrick filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board in Oklahoma County District Court.
Hamrick, of Oklahoma City, is a member and former chairperson of the board. He is also the chief procurement officer for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Current Chairperson Robert Franklin and members Barry Beauchamp and Brandon Tatum voted Dec. 8 to recuse Hamrick from all discussions and votes on “any matter related to Epic One-on-One Charter School” because of his connections with Epic co-founder David Chaney.
Franklin, Beauchamp, Tatum and the board’s executive director, Rebecca Wilkinson, Hamrick are listed as defendants
in Hamrick’s lawsuit. The lawsuit argues his dis-qualification is invalid because the board violated administrative procedures and the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act when voting to recuse him.
Recusal is only self-imposed and the board agenda should have included a “motion to disqualify” if it intended to censor him, he said. He argues the board should have filed an affidavit justifying his dis-qualification and that the decision lacks legal basis.
Hamrick is asking a judge to forbid the board from considering any matter related to Epic until his ability to participate in those procedures is reinstated.
Hamrick also requested a judge invalidate all actions the board has taken on Epic since his disqualification Dec. 8. If a judge agreed, it would nullify a board vote to set a termination hearing May 12-13 to hear evidence and testimony on alleged contract violations by Epic.
Franklin, Beauchamp and Tatum also disqualified fellow board member Phyllis Shepherd because she is a relative of Chaney. Shepherd has not filed a lawsuit challenging her recusal.
The board authorizes and oversees all virtual charter schools in Oklahoma. That includes Epic One-on-One, an online learning platform that makes up 60% of the school system’s enrollment.
Epic Blended Learning Centers, which make up the remaining 40%, involve physical learning locations and are authorized under Rose State College.
In a scathing audit of Epic, the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office reported Hamrick’s ties to Chaney could present a conflict of interest.
Hamrick told state auditors he had a “longtime personal friendship” with Chaney, an Oct. 1 audit report states.
When he was board chairperson, he removed an item from a board agenda in June 2019 that could have initiated an investigative audit of Epic. Hamrick told auditors he had the board’s exec---
In a scathing audit of Epic,
the Oklahoma State Auditor
and Inspector’s Office
reported Hamrick’s ties to
Chaney could present a
conflict of interest.
utive director, Rebecca Wilkinson, remove the agenda item after Chaney called him.
He said the reason he removed the audit request was because it didn’t have enough board support to pass. Two of the five board members denied Hamrick called them about the agenda item, and two more couldn’t recall him contacting them, according to the state audit report.
Hamrick received a $200 campaign contribution from Chaney in 2017. Hamrick was running in the Republican primary for Senate District 45, an election he lost to Sen. Paul Rosino.
The donation doesn’t present a conflict of interest or warrant disqualification, Hamrick’s lawsuit states.
Before the Dec. 8 recusal vote, Hamrick said Chaney’s contribution didn’t influence his decision making on the board.
“I can’t speak to why individuals would make all of their donations that they do,” he said during the Dec. 8 meeting. “It also certainly had no control over the way that I think or approach things.”
Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at oklahoman.com/subscribe.