Williamson County Schools announced last month that the Discovery K-8 Virtual School will be closed for next academic year due to low enrollment.
According to the district administration, 82 students have applied to enroll in the school by the March 20 deadline. At the end of the first month of this school year, more than 340 students were enrolled.
“These (the numbers) are simply not enough students for a K-8 school to be sustainable,” WCS wrote on the school’s news site.
Discovery is one of two virtual schools established last year in response to a new law in Tennessee that requires virtual schools to be separate from schools with regions.
“The online K-8 was significantly more expensive than our regular campus given the enrollment numbers we received,” WCS Supervisor Jason Golden said at a meeting with county commissioners on April 4. “We just didn’t have enough students in each class so we could even hire full-time teachers in some of the classes.”
Vanguard High School, the district’s virtual school for ninth-twelfth graders, is expected to remain open with more than 140 full-time students and more than 4,600 “semester sessions” requested by high school students who choose to take one or more virtual courses while attending In their area.Schools.
Discovery K-8 parents respond
Upon hearing the news, dozens of parents banded together in a Facebook group called “Save Discovery Virtual.” More than a dozen of these parents came to Tensian in hopes of supporting the school’s opening.
Some of them said they were shocked to hear the news so soon after making the decision to re-register for the remote option. They also said schools have evolved beyond the response to COVID-19.
Third-grade parent Rajib Nair said that with less than a year in the books, the small enrollment may be positive and the cost could be an investment in educating children with technological knowledge and another tool for the growing district.
Nair said the Discovery experience has been an improvement since the onset of the plague when the virtual school was challenging for the younger classes. The results of the new array should affect the closure, not the enrollment numbers, he said.
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“We make decisions only based on the number of people who sign up. We did not review the TNReady or TSAT scores,” he said. “How did the online students get compared to the students who studied in the building last year? Was it the same thing? Worse or better?”
As a former director of an online education system, he believes the county could have better marketed the school with the goal of gradual growth.
David McRae-Dustor, a parent of two who attends Discovery, said his child has an individual education program and ADHD thrives in the virtual school with more space to focus, fewer opportunities for bullying and a parent’s ability to be nearby. An impromptu teacher.
“The biggest part of (the Education for the Improvement of Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004) is to provide an environment for children of all abilities or disabilities to provide a successful environment that does not limit a person,” he wrote in an email. ; Sufficient for the masses. “
Christy Branson, a parent of fourth- to seventh-graders, said that while many believe an online school can cause loss of social connection and exercise, she has found the opposite.
“I can see the (parents’) concern and their point, but the teachers and staff here have gone above and beyond to offer clubs of all kinds that the children can attend, not to mention the students can attend anything before or outside clubs or sports / outdoor in the designated school To them, “she wrote in an email.
WCS parents, Rebecca Hellmans and Sarah Ribeau, said Discovery suited the needs of their families.
Helmens, a mother of a third-grade child, is an aerial arts instructor who works most of the afternoon and evening. Her husband, an entertainer, on the way.
Discovery K-8 allows a girl to go to school without any interruptions or pick-up needs, and she can avoid spending time at home alone. Their intended schooling will pull Helmens out of work.
“I have a girl who is really brilliant. She has all the A’s and B’s, but I do feel she has some anxieties, especially in social situations when she is passing tests,” Helmens said. “She just does so much better at home with our pets, in her environment, in her settings. A lot of that pressure comes from her, and she can really focus.”
For Riebau, a parent of third and seventh graders, the school gives her family some peace of mind about the possibility of another version of COVID-19, as well as a more relaxed and connected school experience.
“If we have to send them to school next year, while we are ready to do it, there could be another version and then we are stuck with the situation of whether we send our children and feel uncomfortable about their health or do we attract them and try to find another option,” he said. Ribau.
What is expected to come?
Golden and the WCS Board of Education will discuss the next stages of the Discovery K-8 at the council’s working meeting on April 14 and at a meeting on April 18, both of which are open to the public. Golden plans to recommend closing the school at those meetings.
Board members will vote on the decision on April 18.
According to WCS, the county’s human resources department is working with Discovery’s staff to transfer them to other positions for the upcoming school year.
Golden said 26 people make up the virtual school staff. The faculty featured on its website include a principal, assistant principal, 21 teachers across nine classes and a number of subjects, a consultant, an attendance secretary and an K-12 accountant.
Meanwhile, as parents make their voices heard they are also exploring other options for their children. They are considering sending them to a private school or finding other options of online public schools, like the state online school or those in other counties like Bristol City schools or Rotherford County schools.
Anika Axum is a reporter covering Williamson County in The Tennessean, part of the USA Today-Tennessee network. Contact her at aexum@tennessean.com, 615-347-7313 or on Twitter @aniexum.
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