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Students and parents urge Virginia Beach board to keep synchronous Virtual Virginia instruction
Summary
Students, parents and advocates urged the board to pause a district plan to replace Virtual Virginia's live instruction with an asynchronous platform, saying synchronous lessons and case managers are essential for many students' access and IEP needs.
A steady stream of public commenters on March 10 urged the Virginia Beach School Board to preserve Virtual Virginia's synchronous, live instruction and the case manager supports tied to it.
"Please do not let them take that away from me," said middle-school student Zakai Vasquez, who told the board that virtual learning reduces anxiety, allows them to learn at their own pace and maintains school engagement and extracurricular participation. Zakai said losing the synchronous option would leave some students effectively forced into homeschooling and would remove a learning environment in which they have succeeded.
Parents and advocates echoed that testimony. Parent Carrie Dop told the board the district's announced move to a platform that eliminates live instruction was made without adequate parent input and would limit IEP teams' ability to place students in appropriate settings. "Virtual with live instruction and virtual without are vastly different delivery models," Dop said, urging the board to pause the decision and solicit further input from the Special Education Advisory Committee.
Susan Wallen, a parent and court-appointed special advocate, described her eighth grader's measurable success in Virtual Virginia and cited research that, she said, shows teacher presence and real-time interaction improve engagement for students with neurodevelopmental differences. Wallen asked the board whether the district conducted an impact analysis on how removing synchronous instruction would affect students with disabilities and how equitable access would be ensured for neurodivergent learners.
Board members acknowledged the concerns and asked district staff questions during the meeting's public-comment portion and subsequent presentations. Dr. Robertson and program staff later noted the district had recommended the platform change; commenters and some board members requested further analysis, stakeholder engagement and a clear transition plan if changes proceed.
The board did not take an immediate vote to reverse the planned platform change during the March 10 meeting; speakers asked the board to preserve either Virtual Virginia or at least a live-instruction option within the new digital campus while the district conducts further review.
