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Statewide Charter School Board seeks restored Horizon funding, cites $4.7M district savings and Waterford literacy pilot
Summary
Rebecca Wilkinson told the subcommittee the SCSB’s Horizon consortium serves 380 districts and requests $3.4M recurring plus a $3.4M supplemental to restore FY26 funding; officials said Horizon saved districts roughly $4.7M through bulk purchasing and asked restored funding to preserve vendor partnerships and early‑literacy pilots tied to the Strong Readers Act.
Rebecca Wilkinson, executive director of the Statewide Charter School Board, told the Senate Subcommittee on Education Appropriations that Horizon — the board’s supplemental online consortium — now includes about 380 school districts and provides bulk purchasing, AP/AP‑workforce classes and professional support. The SCSB requested $3,300,000 recurring for charter‑school operations, $3,400,000 for Horizon recurring operations, and a $3,400,000 supplemental to restore services cut after FY26 funding reductions.
Wilkinson and Dr. Lisa Daniels said Horizon’s consortium purchasing produced an estimated $4,700,000 in savings for participating districts and delivered teacher support, tech assistance and vendor contracts that smaller or rural districts could not secure independently. They described a Waterford early‑literacy pilot used in selected districts and said a statewide kindergarten/grade‑1 rollout of that literacy vendor had been quoted at roughly $5.5M when SCSB explored the option.
SCSB officials explained that cuts to Horizon forced the agency to scale back or eliminate several pilots (including a supplemental blended math program and early‑literacy pilots). Wilkinson asked the committee to restore supplemental funding so Horizon could scale those services back up and continue consortium discounts that help rural districts afford expanded curricula.
Senators also questioned overlap and efficiency between Horizon and district‑built virtual academies. SCSB officials said Horizon’s funding is designated for supplemental online instruction (not full‑time virtual academies), that AP courses provided through Horizon produced above‑average AP results, and that Horizon provides implementation support to districts that lack experience running online offerings.
On oversight, Skyler Lesney described the SCSB’s performance and financial compliance processes for authorized schools, including annual audit reviews, going‑concern checks and encouragement for brick‑and‑mortar charters to adopt board‑approved budgets.
The committee did not vote; members requested the SCSB’s presentation materials, vendor quotes and a draft plan for potential expanded statewide platforms.
Quoted text in this article is taken verbatim from the hearing transcript and is attributed to speakers identified on the record.
