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Board approves Spartan Virtual Learning Academy partnership with Edmentum; coordinator role and limits outlined
Summary
The board approved creation of a Spartan Virtual Learning Academy run with Edmentum/Ed Options; district will schedule students, monitor progress via an on-site coordinator, and allow virtual students to participate in graduation and some extracurricular activities while noting limits on dual-credit and Indiana College Corps eligibility.
The Southwestern Consolidated School Board unanimously approved plans to offer a Spartan Virtual Learning Academy through Edmentum/Ed Options and described how the district will manage enrollment, oversight and student access to extracurricular activities.
Presenter (S3) explained the academy would be run through Edmentum’s Ed Options Academy and that the district would remain responsible for scheduling and ensuring students meet graduation requirements: "They do offer an all inclusive academy style learning experience that is online... So how that would work is if kids are enrolled in that, they would go through us to get their schedule... we would implement that into PowerSchool, and then that would talk to Ed Options Academy and assign classes." The district will provide an on-site coordinator to communicate daily with Edmentum, monitor progress and intervene when students are not meeting expectations.
The board discussed diploma and credit issues. Presenter (S3) said students in the virtual academy would be Southwestern graduates and could participate in cohort activities including prom and graduation, but the Ed Options Academy would not support Indiana College Corps and virtual students would not be included in the district GPA-ranking system: "I would say that they would be a Southwestern graduate... The one thing that we would they would not be a part of is our GPA ranking system." State testing would still be administered on-site as required.
Board members asked about transportation for sports and participation logistics; administration said virtual students would be eligible for athletics when they can get to the school site for practices and events. The board approved moving forward with the program and will address coordinator compensation and final agreements in follow-up action.
