The facts: On August 12, 2019, Rebecca Wilkinson (executive director of the Statewide Virtual School Board) received a REQUEST FROM SENATOR RON SHARP via email which entailed answering several questions concerning oversight of Epic operations. On August 15 Wilkinson sent the REQUEST to Lynn Stickney, program specialist for the OSVCSB.
Senator Sharp requested the answers to several questions from Wilkinson / Oklahoma Charter School Board. For example, Sharp asked Wilkinson: "Can a student enrolled in a virtual charter school which is sponsored by the OSVCB be counted in the enrollment and subsequent attendance of a charter school not sponsored by the Oklahoma Charter School Board?" Wilkinson's answer was "No, it would create an illegal dual enrollment situation in two public schools."
On September 9, 2019, Bill Hickman (Epic's retained attorney) issued a 'Cease and Desist Demand' of Senator Sharp in which he stated "Dr. Wilkinson, the executive director of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board ("SVCSB"), has confirmed that she has not had any discussions with you regarding Epic." Evidently, Wilkinson believes that simply answering Senator Sharp's questions regarding Epic doesn't constitute a "discussion". Many Oklahoma taxpayers believe that it does. The Epic attorney labeled many of Sharp's statements as 'lies'. Senator Sharp's initial questions referred to Epic Virtual Charter School being sponsored by the SVCSB and Epic Blended Charter Schools being sponsored by Rose State College, so Wilkinson did in fact have discussions with Senator Sharp regarding Epic. It appears as if Epic Blended Charter School, sponsored by Rose State, counted student enrollment which had already been counted by Epic Virtual School, sponsored by the SVCSB.
Hickman then went on to write: "... Exhibit B is an email from Dr. Wilkinson stating that the "SVCSB" has made no determinations regarding Epic One-on-One Charter School's enrollment practices." Becky Wilkinson is technically telling the truth, as the SVCSB has not made an official determination, but Wilkinson did make that determination (as evidenced by her answers). She didn't specifically mention Epic Blended and Epic Virtual as the schools in question, but knew the senator was referring to Epic. The question now becomes: If Epic's dual enrollment practices are indeed illegal (as Becky first indicated), why hasn't the SVCSB made such determination?
Epic has claimed that Senator Sharp has lied about the above issues, but evidence indicates otherwise. The next question becomes: Does calling someone a liar when he or she states facts, constitute libel and slander?
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