School board approves contract to launch Clarksburg Virtual School

The South Carroll County Special School District Board of Education on April 17 voted to approve a statement of work with a private vendor to establish Clarksburg Virtual School and Clarksburg Adult Academy. The motion to approve was made by Mrs. Donna McDaniel-Cox and seconded by Mr. Colton Moore; the transcript records that the motion passed. The agreement described a revenue-sharing model in which the vendor provides roughly 97% of the workload while the district retains about 3% of responsibilities and revenue. Vendor representative Scott Carpus described the program’s supports as including a teacher, an advisor and a graduation coach, plus 24/7 live tutoring. Carpus said programs include diagnostic and prescriptive components, grade-level testing options and a dual-credit college partner. Dr. Lisa Norris, the district director, said the district intends to recruit statewide and that the vendor will use Pearson products and can support bilingual students. Board members discussed student movement between virtual and in-person settings. Dr. Norris said students “may NOT jump back and forth between virtual and actual classrooms,” while Carpus clarified that students might test a single class or participate as hybrid students if the district permits. The vendor also told the board that fully virtual students who reside in the district would be eligible to play district sports. Mrs. McDaniel-Cox asked whether TISA funds are pro-rated if a student moves from virtual to classroom mid-semester; Carpus said funding is based on days and is pro-rated accordingly. The statement of work also includes a provision that, if the vendor determines a student is unlikely to succeed in its model, the student would be transferred to an out-of-state placement funded by that student’s dollars rather than district funds, with the district consulted on such transfers, according to Carpus. The board’s approval directs staff to implement the program under the vendor’s model; the transcript does not specify an implementation timeline or exact contract value.