Virtual school to be expanded

By: By KATE McCARDELL Floridan Staff Writer | Jackson County Floridan
Published: June 19, 2009

Jackson County School district officials are preparing for virtual school in the upcoming school year.
The district already offers virtual classes within it’s own program. But it is now required by statute to contract with virtual school providers for students who choose to attend virtual school full time, instead of on a class-by-class basis.
“It’s to give the parent or student another option of receiving instruction. Instead of being in a room all day long with a teacher, most of the instruction would be on the computer,” Director of Middle and Secondary Education Frank Waller said.
The Jackson County School Board approved a contract with K-12 Florida LLC at Tuesday’s board meeting, for virtual school instruction for grades kindergarten to eighth.
“Now we’re working out all the details of setting the school up, assigning it an identification number and working on technical aspect of it. It should take a couple of weeks, and once that’s done we’ll open it up for parents who ar interested in having their children enrolled,” Waller said.
In the kindergarten through eighth grade program, the child must be in front of a computer for the entire school day, and spend at least 50 percent of contact time with a virtual school teacher.
“I take that as somebody has to be there working with the child. Who that person is has not been determined. It will be a K-12 employee, not an employee of the Jackson County School Board,” Waller said.
The virtual school curriculum must comply with Sunshine State Standards, and students will be tested with the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, Waller said.
High school students in the district who choose virtual school may do so through Florida Virtual School, Waller said.
“Virtual school, in my opinion, is for students who are very self-directed and very self-motivated,” Deputy Superintendent Larry Moore said.
If a student in virtual school doesn’t successfully complete the school year, the virtual school isn’t paid for that student, Waller said.
To be eligible to enter virtual school, students must have physically attended a Florida public school for the entire previous school year.
Home-schooled students are not eligible for the program, Waller said, unless they first spend a year in a public school.
Waller said the district’s initial version of virtual school, which is offered to students in grade six to 12, has been successful.
The program is class-by-class, allowing students to take one class at home per semester.
“This year, we had over 200 enrolled,” Waller said.
He said that so far, no one has signed up for the full-time virtual school program.