Southern Educational Services Cooperative pitches 'Proximity' virtual program; board asked to consider agenda item

Jason Butcher, chief administrator of the Southern Educational Services Cooperative, told the board that Proximity runs a live, bell‑scheduled virtual school five days a week and also offers alternative school and credit‑recovery programs as well as “virtual staffing” that pipes a live, certified teacher into a brick‑and‑mortar classroom when a local certified teacher is not available. "Our live certified teachers are what sets us apart from other virtual offerings," Butcher said, emphasizing teacher‑led instruction rather than asynchronous packet work.

Butcher explained program mechanics and examples used in other West Virginia counties, saying all lessons are recorded so students who miss class can review the lesson later. He described the program as flexible: "You can buy one seat, you can buy 100, you can buy 200," he said, and added that county policy will govern attendance and participation rules.

Butcher gave a financial illustration for county officials: districts typically receive about $5,500 to $6,000 per student from the state; Proximity receives $1,950 per enrolled student and provides the instructional services, which he said frees about $3,550 per recovered student for the district to apply elsewhere. He framed that as a potential way to bring home‑schooled, Hope Scholarship and virtual charter students back into the Randolph County Schools roster while retaining local district membership for the students.

Ken Lester, Proximity's representative, described local pilot activity at Harman School, where 62 students are enrolled in seven classes, and outlined examples in which districts pipe in subject specialists (for example, Spanish teachers) to brick‑and‑mortar classrooms. Presenters also described an analytics dashboard called Genius to let counties monitor student progress and engagement.

Board members asked about scheduling coordination across participating counties (for example, local vacation weeks) and about special‑education accommodations; presenters said counties follow an agreed schedule and that required accommodations (IEP/504) follow the student into the virtual program. Proximity officials reiterated that the cooperative works only with public school systems — parents cannot enroll and pay directly — and that students enrolled through Proximity would be considered Randolph County students for district purposes.

A board member asked that the Proximity program be placed as a vote item on the next board agenda so staff (named by the board as Ms. McCauley, Mrs. Chenoweth and Mr. Smith) can pursue implementation details. The presenters offered to work with district staff on policy language, oversight logistics and any needed local policy modifications.

Next steps: the board requested the item be added to the next meeting agenda for formal consideration; no final decision was made at this meeting.