The Manitowoc Public School District’s Board of Education has approved the contract from the McKinley Charter School to move forward with a full distance learning option to families beginning with the 2021-22 school year.
Superintendent Mark Holzman says McKinley Board approval came last week, followed by The MPSD Board on Tuesday.
“McKinley Academy serves students in a face-to-face model,” Holzman explained. “Working with the State Department of Public Instruction and the McKinley Academy Board we were able to work out a plan that would allow the MPSD to enroll students (K through 12) interested in a full virtual learning setting.”
As for what the model looks like, Holzman said, “This model would provide live virtual instruction that would include a schedule with core content, art, music and physical education. A teacher would be assigned to them which would eliminate a requirement that teachers had to work in both a virtual and live setting which was unsustainable in our system.”
A survey this fall revealed that 25 percent of families in the District preferred a full virtual model of learning. Holzman says 10 to 12 percent of those remained virtual throughout the year and another 40 to 50 families chose to enroll in a virtual Charter School during the recent Open Enrollment Period. This costs the District approximately $8200 per pupil lost.
Holzman says that if half of these students returned this program would pay for itself in year one easily.
“The challenge would be to get some of the students back to our District who want to learn 100 percent live virtual along with finding other students outside the district that would like to come to the MPSD,” he told Seehafer News. “Then long-term keeping all kids and have them not transfer to another district which offers a live virtual option-continually providing that sustainable opportunity for families for years to come.”
Approval is pending from the State Department of Public Instruction.
