The Humboldt School District Governing Board Tuesday evening approved spending $51,000 to develop an online school that will open Jan. 1 2010. HUSD hopes to recoup the money it is losing when students enroll in out-of-district online programs.
According to school officials, the district lost $278,306 in average daily membership (ADM) revenue for high school students participating in online classes from July 1, 2008, through Aug. 29, 2009. Officials estimate an additional ADM loss of $50,400 for students currently enrolled in an online school.
The district received quotes from three vendors to provide mentor training, credit recovery courses and system management for the online school.
HUSD Superintendent Dr. Henry Schmitt recommended that the board accept Aventa Learning's low bid of $19,250. The district also received quotes from InnovatEd ($35,000) and National Distance Learning Educational Program ($45,000).
Schmitt said he thought Aventa Learning's bid was low because "it really wants our business, and it already has Blackboard in place."
Blackboard is a computer software program that creates personalized learning experiences. Schmitt said colleges and universities use Blackboard as part of their online course offerings.
In addition to Aventa Learning's costs, the online school price tag includes $15,000 for personnel - a one-semester $5,261 stipend for Alternative Learning Center teacher Tom Veatch (10 percent of his base salary), and $10,000 for a classroom aide. The district will spend $15,872 for computers and accessories, and $2,000 to move the ALC lab from the Bradshaw Mountain High School west campus back to the BMHS east campus.
The district will charge a $5 setup charge for each student participating in the online school.
Assistant Superintendent Dean Slaga is determining if the district could use Title I, Part D, Neglected and Delinquent Students money to help pay for the online school.
The purpose of Title I, Part D, money is to improve educational services for neglected, delinquent or at-risk children so they have the opportunity to meet the same challenging state standards that all students are expected to meet. Local school districts could use the Title I money to prevent at-risk children from dropping out of school.
The online school will serve as a credit recovery program for at least its first semester in existence.
"I think it is critical that we get this in place for our students. To recover the ADM revenue, we must have students on campus for four hours," Schmitt said.
"Next year, we will go full-bore. We could even go statewide for students needing additional courses for graduation. For an investment of $50,000, we would probably garner $250,000 over the period of a year," Schmitt said.
In response to board member Shelly Damschroder's question about discipline, BMHS assistant principal Kort Minor said, "Keep in mind, this is a privilege that can and will be taken away if necessary."
Slaga said, "It is important to remember that at one time we had 200 to 250 students attending the high school summer school. We no longer have a summer school at the high school. Even if students take only one online class, we lose money."
Governing board member Richard Adler completely supports the online school.
"It fits into the goals for our district, which is to think outside the box. I think the investment is worth it," Adler said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
To 'E'
You’re in "tremeandous" need of an English class (soon to be available online courtesy of HUSD).
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Rich
My neice has taken online Spanish through PEAK for two years. She has received A's for four semesters. Her Spanish is awful. I asked her about it and she showed me online programs where you can translate, cut and paste. Web sites which have the answers in spanish she simply types in the English and gets them spanish equivilent. I give her respect and $100 for being so creative.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
E.
Maybe HUSD should just pull the plug on themselves ? They've got tremeandous teachers start supporting them !
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Online school does not equal home schooling. There are many students that take online courses for college credits or credit recovery. BUT the minute they take an online course and are in essence getting education outside of the purview of HUSD then HUSD loses ADM money. You are comparing apples to oranges. Nice try. If you don't feel your child would benefit from a vibrant campus full of athletic and club opportunites and you feel you can teach them high school level science and math feel free to keep them home and feel better about yourself.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
They are to on-line schooling to avoid paying for teachers, paying for a building, utilities, etc. It’s a cost cutting tactic; universities do the same thing already. They can also reach students in different school districts and absorb the funding they would receive for students in their district. If society went this route then I would be having my child take classes from a school district in Vermont since they are listed at number one in the nation in education as opposed to Arizona which is number 50th. Yep folks, our state ranks that high. Who do they expect to want to take classes from a school district in Arizona?
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Amazing!!! How so many people talk bad about home schooling yet most school districts are going to online schooling so they can get more money from the state. But in the big picture they are promoting home schooling but in a different way. So, I guess the big word "socialization" really isn't the concern any more????
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
upset parent
what does that tell you about how the new teaching system is working? if it aint broke don't fix it, well the education system here in arizona is awful. you set guidelines for the teachers to teach this way not making it interesting for the students to learn. Do the Math, YEARS ago lets pick 1950's, how many drop outs were there compared to now? the teachers taught differently then. Now not all fault you have parents now adays that can care a less, school is there to babysit they're children therefore its up to the teachers to teach and they cannot be bothered with helping and/or its not there job. Both parents are working, and you have a lot more single parents out here as well. on and on and on.
I don't like the fact that there is a "middle school" there are a lot of children going to middle school and they are not quite ready to deal with this. 6th grade still needs to be in grade school its a very hard transistion for a lot of students. Plus there is a lot of teasing and bullying peer pressure. I for one have been thinking of pulling my child out of they system. and homeschooling. I feel very strongly that my child is just not getting the education that he/she is suppose to be getting. do I blame the teachers well maybe a few, but there is a few that still care and is trying. some its just a job.
