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Wallenpaupack Area School District has in place an option for virtual, on-line curriculums a student can take at home. The School Board was told Nov. 14 that this service is meant as an alternative to losing students to commercial cyber schools.
The program is known as Virtually Linking Instruction & Curriculum, or VLIC. School districts across Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit (IU) 19, as well as IU 18 and 20 also make use of it. VLIC was first employed in the 2010-2011 school year.
More options
Diane Szadar, Director of Educational Technology, explained that VLIC offers greater academic options to a student, at a lower cost to the School District.
The students and their families remain a part of the Wallenpaupack Area School District and can participate in co-curricular activities. They still receive a Wallenpaupack diploma and keep local school counseling support. Although VLINC instruction is still provided by teachers online through the educational vendors under contract, Wallenpaupack teachers remain available to students to assist them.
A case manager is also available (Andrew Morissey) to meet with students to review student progress, discuss student educational plans, give support in online classes and communicate with parents, the District and VLINC teachers.
Wallenpaupack students also have the opportunity to take a select course or two through VLINC, that is not offered in the classroom here.
Currently, Wallenpaupack works with three online education vendors, Blended Schools, Edison Learning and Aventa-Learning. A wide range of courses can be taken, including diverse languages. These include Mandarin, Japanese, German, Latin, French and Spanish. There is also a large assortment of Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
This personal, local connection is lacking with the cyber school option.
The law allows cyber school as an option, where students take the courses offered apart from the School District which still pays the bill. Superintendent Michael Silsby noted that up until this year the state reimbursed the School District 30 percent of the costs for either charter schools (such as Fell Charter School in Lackawanna County) or on-line cyber education.
No WASD diploma
students taking these options do not get a Wallenpaupack diploma and are not counted in the Wallenpaupack graduation rate, but the Wallenpaupack Area School District is paying for the education.
The Pa. Department of Education oversees the educational program, regardless of whether these options are taken or the student stays in the local school district.
During the last school year, 66 students were enrolled in cyber schools, funded by Wallenpaupack.
During 2010-2011, there were 24 Wallenpaupack students taking the VLINC option; 22 were in high school. Five have graduated, two are continuing in VLINC and six were promoted and returned to the classroom building.
In the current school year, Wallenpaupack has 16 students enrolled in VLINC, studying online at home. Of these, 15 are in high school and one is at middle school level.
Financial drain
Cyber school costs are presenting a big drain on Wallenpaupack financial resources, Silsby pointed out. During 2010-2011, the cost of cyber school education affecting Wallenpaupack was $644,241, or $12,276 for each cyber student, on average.
The expense of VLINC education for Wallenpaupack students for that same year was $57,909, or for each VLINC student, $2,518 on average.
“The law allows cyber schools; we can’t stop it,” Silsby told the Board.
Silsby stated one concern the District is that the District is not notified that a student has switched to a cyber school until after being enrolled. “We’re trying to convince them to come back,” the Superintendent said. School Board member Robert Schwartz added that they would like to identify families who are considering cyber schools and have a chance to talk to them first.
Online here to stay
Noting that online education was here to stay, Silsby noted that the Administration has talked about offering an elective credit requirement, providing online courses on the Wallenpaupack campus. Once they get to college, students will encounter online instruction.
He said it was feasible to imagine one day, 25 students sitting at computer stations in the same room, each taking a different online course.
Wallenpaupack Area School District has in place an option for virtual, on-line curriculums a student can take at home. The School Board was told Nov. 14 that this service is meant as an alternative to losing students to commercial cyber schools.
The program is known as Virtually Linking Instruction & Curriculum, or VLIC. School districts across Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit (IU) 19, as well as IU 18 and 20 also make use of it. VLIC was first employed in the 2010-2011 school year.
More options
Diane Szadar, Director of Educational Technology, explained that VLIC offers greater academic options to a student, at a lower cost to the School District.
The students and their families remain a part of the Wallenpaupack Area School District and can participate in co-curricular activities. They still receive a Wallenpaupack diploma and keep local school counseling support. Although VLINC instruction is still provided by teachers online through the educational vendors under contract, Wallenpaupack teachers remain available to students to assist them.
A case manager is also available (Andrew Morissey) to meet with students to review student progress, discuss student educational plans, give support in online classes and communicate with parents, the District and VLINC teachers.
Wallenpaupack students also have the opportunity to take a select course or two through VLINC, that is not offered in the classroom here.
Currently, Wallenpaupack works with three online education vendors, Blended Schools, Edison Learning and Aventa-Learning. A wide range of courses can be taken, including diverse languages. These include Mandarin, Japanese, German, Latin, French and Spanish. There is also a large assortment of Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
This personal, local connection is lacking with the cyber school option.
The law allows cyber school as an option, where students take the courses offered apart from the School District which still pays the bill. Superintendent Michael Silsby noted that up until this year the state reimbursed the School District 30 percent of the costs for either charter schools (such as Fell Charter School in Lackawanna County) or on-line cyber education.
No WASD diploma
students taking these options do not get a Wallenpaupack diploma and are not counted in the Wallenpaupack graduation rate, but the Wallenpaupack Area School District is paying for the education.
The Pa. Department of Education oversees the educational program, regardless of whether these options are taken or the student stays in the local school district.
During the last school year, 66 students were enrolled in cyber schools, funded by Wallenpaupack.
During 2010-2011, there were 24 Wallenpaupack students taking the VLINC option; 22 were in high school. Five have graduated, two are continuing in VLINC and six were promoted and returned to the classroom building.
In the current school year, Wallenpaupack has 16 students enrolled in VLINC, studying online at home. Of these, 15 are in high school and one is at middle school level.
Financial drain
Cyber school costs are presenting a big drain on Wallenpaupack financial resources, Silsby pointed out. During 2010-2011, the cost of cyber school education affecting Wallenpaupack was $644,241, or $12,276 for each cyber student, on average.
The expense of VLINC education for Wallenpaupack students for that same year was $57,909, or for each VLINC student, $2,518 on average.
“The law allows cyber schools; we can’t stop it,” Silsby told the Board.
Silsby stated one concern the District is that the District is not notified that a student has switched to a cyber school until after being enrolled. “We’re trying to convince them to come back,” the Superintendent said. School Board member Robert Schwartz added that they would like to identify families who are considering cyber schools and have a chance to talk to them first.
Online here to stay
Noting that online education was here to stay, Silsby noted that the Administration has talked about offering an elective credit requirement, providing online courses on the Wallenpaupack campus. Once they get to college, students will encounter online instruction.
He said it was feasible to imagine one day, 25 students sitting at computer stations in the same room, each taking a different online course.
