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Enter the Luzerne County Intermediate Unit 18, as well as Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit 19 and BLaST Intermediate Unit 17. The group is offering a cyber program that, with time, the schools can take on as their own.
“Over the next few years, the idea is we’ll develop about 90 courses across the spectrum that will be developed through the districts and through the regional teachers,” said Dr. David Reese, assistant executive director at the IU 19.
Wyoming Valley West and Northwest Area school districts are already signed up, and districts such as Greater Nanticoke and Pittston Area said they are very interested. Two dozen additional schools in the IU 17 and 19 have also signed up.
The IU 19 covers Lackawanna, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties. The IU 17 covers Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga counties.
The cyber program essentially works by combining forces regionally to provide online courses and teachers. Initially, the courses will be pre-designed by vendors, but the districts and intermediate units will find teachers and begin designing classes that meet individual districts’ needs.
Costs
One aspect that has attracted many districts is the potential for cost savings. In 2001-02, the combined amount county districts spent on cyber charter schools was $177,295. That shot up to $2,359,881 in 2006-07, according the state Department of Education.
Wyoming Valley West Superintendent Dr. Michael Garzella said the district estimates it spent $844,605 on cyber schools during 2007-08, and the amount continues to rapidly increase.
“If we can offer a cyber curriculum in some form, we can keep some of those students in our schools,” he said.
To participate in the program, districts must pay a $4,500 annual fee, and then pay per student, Reese said.
Garzella said even if one student participates, the district stands to save money.
Education
Right now, the program is largely designed to recruit students who are already attending cyber charter schools or are considering the option, but it can also be used by students seeking additional or advanced classes, remedial education and distance learning.
Reese said there is even a family that plans to live in Italy next year and would use the cyber program as a way to stay enrolled in their home district.
Over time, it could even become a supplement to the regular school curriculum by offering speciality courses in foreign languages or classes such as marine biology, Reese said.
But for now, the idea is to explore the options before expanding the program.
Although the intermediate units are heading up the initiative, each district is in charge of its own recruiting and enrollment, and potential participants should speak to their school administrators.
Wyoming Valley West is waiting to see what happens with the program before marketing it to students and parents, Garzella said.
“Once we have something we can say, ‘Hey, we have a pretty solid curriculum we can offer then at that point we can reach out.’”
Concerns
Although the program is intended to keep cyber students with the districts, Fred Miller, communications director at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, said he is more concerned that the program would be more difficult to ran than he is about losing students to the districts’ programs.
“We think they should be offering cyber, but to some extent they will be finding themselves trying to reinvent the wheel that we already have a pretty good model for,” he said.
Wilkes-Barre Area School District considered the cyber program, but Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Namey said the district wants to see how it goes and what other options are available. The program’s cost is a little high, he said, and there is a lot to be finished before fall.
“We were looking at it for this year, but whether we could get it up and running for September is doubtful in my view,” he said.
However, the amount the district spends on cyber charter schools is “ridiculous,” he said, and the district is looking at alternatives. More than a million dollars are budgeted for cyber charter school tuition for next year.
Control
Regardless of the concerns, the increased control over students’ education is one of the greatest appeals.
Greater Nanticoke Area Superintendent Anthony Perrone is interested in many possibilities with the cyber program, including keeping the students accountable and in school. It’s difficult when the students are at a cyber charter school, but the district pays for the education.
“There’s no accountability, I don’t think,” he said. “You know, if the kid doesn’t go online, the cyber school sends us a letter because that’s like truancy.”
In addition, the classes created for the cyber program will be designed not around textbooks, but around the Pennsylvania state education standards, so students are taught what the state requires.
“Here’s the beauty,” LIU 18 Executive Director Michael Ostrowski said. “This is an option for districts, a way to get some more control and to offer the same opportunities for children at a much lower rate. It also allows us to keep the climate and culture of the schools through the teachers involved.”
Enrollment in the program will begin late this month or in August, and interested parents and students should talk with their school district administrators.
emoody@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2051
