Board approves District Virtual Academy reduced-credit pathway for students off-track for graduation

The West Allis–West Milwaukee School District Board of Education approved a reduced-credit graduation pathway for students enrolling in the district virtual program (DLVA) during its May 19 meeting.

Alyssa (district staff member) told the board the district changed the label from “competency pathway” to “reduced credit pathway” to align with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction guidelines. She said the pathway is one of several graduation routes and that many neighboring districts adopted similar options post‑COVID to help students who faced pandemic-era disruptions.

Administrators provided preliminary counts of juniors who might be candidates if they and their teams opted for the pathway: 36 juniors at Central (about 14% of that class), 69 at Hale (about 22%) and 10 at Docus (about 27%), for roughly 115 students across the three high schools potentially eligible. DLVA staffing was discussed; district staff said the online program is currently staffed for up to about 225 students and that the administration will monitor enrollments and, if needed, seek an educator with an alternative license to support broader content areas.

Board members clarified that under the adopted structure, students who choose the pathway would enroll full-time in DLVA and not remain concurrently enrolled in brick-and-mortar classes; the district will treat the first year as an evaluation period and revisit whether to expand hybrid options in future years. The motion to adopt the DLVA reduced-credit pathway was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.