FAYETTEVILLE -- An opportunity to start a virtual school has prompted Fayetteville School District administrators to think differently about education.
Administrators said they are taking into consideration the needs of students who are homebound because of medical conditions, home-school students and those who want to retake a class for a higher grade.
They are discussing whether to ask students to commit to completing one full school year in a virtual school or to ask them to take classes virtually for a shorter period of time.
"It's really causing us to rethink and open up our eyes to all kinds of ways they serve kids," said Kay Jacoby, executive director of curriculum, instruction, assessment and accountability.
The Fayetteville School District plans to request a conversion charter from the state for an online school that initially would serve about 100 students in fourth through eighth grades, said Kim Garrett, associate superintendent for secondary education. The school would add ninth and 10th grades in 2017-18, 11th and 12th grades in 2018-19 and kindergarten through third grades in 2019-20.
The district must submit an application for the district-conversion charter to the state Department of Education by Sept. 9. The state's Charter Authorizing Panel meets in November. The state Board of Education would decide whether to review the panel's decision in December.
The district began to research online curricula a year ago.
Plans for the school include weekly field trips designed to help students feel connected, Garrett said. Trips could include the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville or Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Students also could study with a university professor.
Bria Mounce, a mother of three Fayetteville students, is interested in virtual options, though her children in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades will be too old for the online school the Fayetteville School District will propose opening in the 2016-17 school year.
"I like that they don't have to be at a building for eight or nine hours a day," Mounce said. "They have more flexibility and control over what they are doing."
Mounce said an online school should provide a greater variety of classes, such as more choices for foreign languages, than students have access to on a traditional campus.
School districts that have established virtual schools have advised the district to begin by using a curriculum from a vendor to ensure teachers have adequate support and training in working in a virtual environment. They have also advised officials to consider how to support students, the administrators said.
"It's a lot different than just, 'Here's the curriculum. Hope you do it. Good luck,'" Garrett said.
Across the country, enrollment in online schools in the 2013-14 school year ranged from 48,358 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in Arizona to 76 students in Alaska, according to a report by the Evergreen Education Group. A statewide online charter school opened in Maine for the 2014-15 school year.
Arkansas had 1,334 students enrolled in the Arkansas Virtual Academy, an online school, during the 2013-14 school year, according to the report.
Metro on 08/18/2015