Parent testimony: Grand Forks Virtual High School credited with saving student’s well‑being; district weighs program’s cost and enrollment impact
Loading...
Summary
A military parent testified that the Grand Forks Virtual High School transformed his daughter’s life and warned that eliminating the 26‑student program would be harmful; district staff said the virtual program is currently more cost‑effective per pupil but closure risks losing per‑pupil state revenue.
A military parent delivered emotional testimony at the Jan. 12 special board meeting about the Grand Forks Virtual High School, telling the board the program was crucial for his teen’s mental health and social functioning.
Jimmy Sweat described his daughter’s rare immune‑system condition, severe bullying and isolation in traditional school settings and said the virtual program "saved her life," enabling her to laugh, play with her sister and reengage with learning. He urged the board to preserve the program.
Administrators told the board the virtual high school currently serves 26 students and is supported by roughly 0.5 FTE mentor staffing plus stipends; they said educating a student in the virtual environment is, in their calculation, more cost‑effective than some face‑to‑face placements and that elimination would save the district the mentor positions but could risk losing state per‑pupil funding if students disenroll from the district.
Board members expressed concern about eliminating a program that had only recently been scaled up and asked staff to provide enrollment, cost and pathway data before making decisions. No action was taken Jan. 12.
