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Lancaster ISD approves planning for virtual academy and buys a CCMR dashboard to track postsecondary readiness
Summary
Trustees authorized planning for a phased Lancaster ISD virtual program under SB 569 and unanimously approved contracting an economic mobility/CCMR dashboard (district share $50,000 for FY2026–27) to track dual credit, industry certifications and TSI outcomes.
Lancaster — The Lancaster ISD Board of Trustees voted June 16 to authorize district staff to offer virtual course delivery and to move forward with planning a full virtual academy, and separately approved a paid subscription/implementation of an economic mobility system to monitor post‑secondary readiness metrics.
Dr. Crystal Barker described a phased approach under Senate Bill 569 that begins with offering individual virtual courses and proceeds to a full‑time academy; the district plans to phase in classes, use existing staff and technology in the first phase and to recruit for a full academy with a planned launch in 2027–28. Dr. Barker told trustees the district will focus first on eligible seniors (up to about 200 students) and specific higher‑level courses, with attention to synchronous/asynchronous balance to prepare students for college coursework.
Separately, Tanya Bell presented a proposal to implement an economic mobility/CCMR dashboard to give counselors and secondary teams real‑time visibility into dual credit enrollment, industry certification completion and TSI status. The district’s portion of the FY2026–27 cost is $50,000; proponents said the tool will speed interventions and could increase outcomes‑based bonus revenue. The board approved both the virtual program planning and the dashboard unanimously.
Miss Bell framed the dashboard as a tool to help the district reach an "audacious" goal of capturing outcome‑based bonuses and increasing the number of students meeting CCMR benchmarks; she described the current CCMR reporting process as largely manual and said the dashboard would make progress monitoring more expeditious.
