By Gina Morton
Valley school districts paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for students who never step foot inside their classrooms are looking to create formal cyber school options of their own.
For district students in cyber school last year, Midd-West paid $342,720 for about 50 students and Warrior Run, $160,855 for nearly 30 pupils.
That could change with the passage of proposed legislation by the state House Education Committee. Those bills would excuse school districts from funding students who attend charter schools.
"We're taking almost a half-million dollars of local taxpayer money right out of the school budget," Midd-West superintendent Wesley Knapp said Thursday. "I'm not against cyber schools and distance learning. I think online learning works for a number of people. It's the fact that not everyone pays the same."
Districts are required to pay 72 percent of a student's cyber school bill. The bill varies from district to district, according to the operating cost per pupil.
"That's why the districts are talking about cyber options," said Warrior Run Superintendent Daniel Sheaffer, who added that districts would save about 50 percent if the program were to be established. "We're seriously considering it simply to maintain options for students who think the cyber option is for them."
Under one of the proposed bills, if a school district or intermediate unit operates a cyber charter school, the state and the school district are exempt from providing funding for students who attend a different cyber charter school.
Pupils who would attend a nondistrict cyber charter school would have to pay full tuition on their own.
The program being researched, through VLN Partners, allows districts to set up courses and use their own curriculum.
"We can tap into the potential for technology," Sheaffer said. "Students wouldn't have to go to a separate, outside cyber school. That's a tremendous opportunity."
Education officials aren't against cyber schools, Sheaffer said, but against the financial aspect of them. Districts are now left unable to afford those things that would benefit the students and faculty.
"We could hire teachers for students at risk," Sheaffer said. "It's impacting our ability to employ teachers who are able to offer additional courses to students for enrichment or advancement. It's all one pool of money."
Department of Education statistics show the number of students choosing to enroll in charter and cyber charter schools has increased annually.
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