Virginia Virtual Academy pitches full-time online partnership to Manassas City Public Schools

Representatives of the Virginia Virtual Academy described a proposed partnership with Manassas City Public Schools on Tuesday night, saying the online school could enroll local students and return state funding to the district while adding seats for out-of-division applicants.

The presentation, led by a Virginia Virtual Academy representative identified in the meeting as Miss Sloan, outlined how the academy — which the presenter said began under 2010 legislation enabling multi-division online providers — would operate in partnership with Manassas. "There are students who we know that will do very well in an online setting," Miss Sloan told the board, noting the academy has a wait list and would prioritize offering seats to divisions that sign partnership agreements.

The proposal matters because state funding follows students, the presenter said: Manassas City currently has 57 residents enrolled with Virginia Virtual Academy; if Manassas were to partner with the academy, those students would be returned to the Manassas City enrollment roll and the district would receive the associated state funding. Miss Sloan gave a capacity figure from the Virginia Department of Education calculations of 3,890 out-of-division seats Manassas could accept and estimated that returning 57 students would bring roughly $505,000 in state revenue back to the district. She also said the academy has roughly 1,400–1,500 students on a statewide wait list and that partnering divisions may choose the size and grade span of their local virtual program.

Board members pressed presenters on several operational issues. Mrs. Stevens asked whether students enrolled through Virginia Virtual Academy would be eligible for local athletics; Miss Sloan said Virginia High School League rules do not allow virtual students to participate in high-school sports unless the local superintendent permits it, and added that some partners allow participation in activities such as band or theater. Dr. Newman asked about using the model for students in alternative education; presenters said some partners run small pilots in alternative settings and that the online curriculum is delivered by certified teachers employed by the academy, which can free local staff to focus on behavioral supports and on-site services.

Board members also queried academic quality and accountability. Miss Sloan and Kenny Moles, identified in the meeting as Virginia Virtual Academy’s head of school, said the academy’s courses are approved by the Virginia Department of Education and that the school reports student performance data and assessment results to partner divisions. Moles said the academy’s four‑year graduation rate is "above 90 percent, somewhere around 94 percent," while noting final numbers for the most recent year were still being completed. The presenters said special-education, ESOL and related services are provided by a combination of the academy’s online staff and local in-person contractors when required; presenters emphasized there is no additional charge to the partner division for required IEP services.

Presenters described operational supports included in partnership agreements: marketing and enrollment handled by the academy, a paid part‑time data/liaison staffer provided upon initial enrollment (escalating to full-time when local enrollments reach 1,500), and ongoing training and access to instruction and assessment data through the district’s PowerSchool instance. They also said instructional staffing ratios average about 1:50 in secondary grades (the academy keeps a lower ratio in elementary), and that teachers are generally licensed and experienced in traditional public schools.

The board did not take a formal vote on a partnership during the meeting. Chair Seberg said staff will prepare a recommendation for the board to consider at a later date and Dr. Newman was asked to collect follow-up questions from board members and return them to the presenters. Presenters offered to provide additional materials, including demographics, curriculum samples, school-quality profile links and lists of mailed instructional materials by grade level.

For now the discussion will move to follow-up steps: the board will receive additional documentation and a formal recommendation before any partnership agreement is executed. Presenters emphasized the program is funded by state K–12 allocations and that partner divisions retain control over enrollment criteria, grade spans and whether to accept local students into activities such as athletics.