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Manassas board unanimously approves contract with Virginia Virtual Academy
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Summary
The Manassas City School Board voted 7-0 to waive second reading and enter a year-by-year contract with Virginia Virtual Academy (operated by K12) for 2025–26, authorizing enrollment setup and immediate student transfers for city residents.
The Manassas City School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to waive second reading and enter into an agreement with K12 Virtual Schools LLC to host a local Virginia Virtual Academy campus for the 2025–26 school year.
The vote to "waive second reading and execute and enter into an agreement with K12 Virtual Schools LLC for educational products and services" passed 7-0 after a motion by Vice Chair Spall and a second by Board Member Breccia. "The motion carries 7 0," the chair announced after the roll call.
The agreement allows Manassas to operate a locally affiliated Virginia Virtual Academy (VAVA) program and begin enrolling students immediately, staff said. Suzanne Sloan, a representative of Virginia Virtual Academy, told the board the program is "a public school. It's an online public school," and that divisions retain control over which grade levels and eligibility criteria they will accept.
The board and staff discussed practical details before the vote, including which grade spans the division would offer, how state funding flows to the host division, and the timeline for moving currently enrolled Manassas residents onto the Manassas roster. Sloan said the VAVA enrollment process follows the state funding formula and that Manassas’ local seats would be filled first by returning partner students and then by applicants on the wait list.
Board members repeatedly noted that the district controls enrollment rules and the pace of any scale-up. "You are in complete control," Sloan told the board, describing options to limit grade levels or eligibility. Superintendent Newman (addressed in the meeting as "Doctor Newman") and staff said they would work with VAVA on PowerSchool enrollment and that moving in city-resident students would restore state funding to the district's accounts.
Supporters on the board said VAVA could provide another school option for families, a pathway for students who struggle in traditional settings, and additional revenue the district might use for unfunded priorities such as staffing and meal programs. "It may give a student who's struggling in a traditional setting a chance at an on-time graduation," Board Member Miles said.
Board members and VAVA staff also discussed capacity and rollout. Sloan said the VAVA network’s technical capacity can handle thousands of seats, but she cautioned the board against enrolling at maximum capacity in year one and recommended a phased approach. Sloan estimated the VAVA program’s broader network enrollment near 12,000 students statewide and noted that historically less than 1% of a region’s students move to virtual partners in a given year.
The agreement is year-by-year. The board voted to waive second reading and authorize staff to execute the contract so the district can begin onboarding students and configuring PowerSchool. Staff said more detailed decisions — including what grade levels the district will offer and whether to present Manassas Virtual Academy as a separate school in data systems — will be made by the board and staff in follow-up sessions.
The board and VAVA indicated the partnership will start with general-education offerings first and consider alternative-education placements later, since the division currently lacks an internal alternative program.
Board members said they plan further discussion at work sessions and the summer retreat to finalize eligibility rules, grade spans and communications with families.
