Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Charter Cyber topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents and board press for cyber‑charter reform as district cites $2.8M in charter tuition; parent files complaint alleging improper special‑education testing
Summary
Parents and board members pressed state lawmakers for cyber‑charter reform and criticized high charter‑tuition costs (about $2.8M for roughly 150 students); a parent announced she had served a civil enforcement motion and complaint alleging the district mishandled a gifted evaluation and refused an independent reassessment.
Public comment at the June 23 Wyoming Area School Board meeting focused on cyber‑charter tuition, residency verification and district accountability. Board presenters and parents said cyber‑charter tuition has risen markedly and is a major driver of local fiscal pressure.
Business manager Mr. Malone and Superintendent Dr. Pollard said the district budgeted roughly $2.8 million for charter‑cyber tuition in 2025–26 and that the most recent district census showed about 150 students enrolled in outside cyber charters. Dr. Pollard said charter charters bill districts at different rates — approximately $13,000 for a general‑education student and about $24,500 for special‑education students depending on the mix — and noted the district is working under recent school‑code changes intended to tighten residency verification and some tuition rules.
Several board members and audience speakers framed cyber charters as a leading cause of the proposed tax action. "We're almost at $3 million for 150 students being on cyber school," one board member said during the budget Q&A. The meeting included advocacy talk: staff and directors described meetings with Representative Brenda Pugh, PASBO, and state lawmakers urging changes to the funding formula and rebalancing law; they said a reform bill limiting cyber tuition passed the state House but did not reach final approval in the Senate.
During the public‑comment period, parent Joanna Patchell alleged the district had fired an evaluator who found her son gifted, then retained an out‑of‑state evaluator who "redacted qualifying scores," and that the district refused an independent evaluation she offered to pay for. Patchell said she served the district, the board and Superintendent Dr. Pollard with a motion to enforce and a civil complaint and that she had filed a disciplinary complaint against the district’s counsel. Board members declined to discuss pending litigation on the record, saying confidentiality and legal constraints prevented further comment.
Other parents described reasons they chose cyber providers — scheduling flexibility, life‑skills curricula and perceived safety or consistency — and one parent said her child is thriving academically after transferring to a cyber program and that some life‑skills coursework did not transfer as credits when moving between providers.
Superintendent Dr. Pollard noted that a new school‑code requirement (effective with the 2025 code changes) requires families who attend cyber charters to submit enrollment forms and proof of residency to the resident district at set dates (October 1 and March 1); he said Wyoming Area continues to follow the process and that the district was still awaiting residency submissions from 29 families at the time of the meeting.
What happens next: The board urged residents to contact state legislators about funding inequities and cyber‑charter oversight; the parent who filed the complaint said litigation and enforcement actions are underway.
