Cuba City board allows virtual academy students to play WIAA sports, asks administration to draft eligibility policy

After extended discussion, the Cuba City School District board approved a change to the Virtual Academy handbook to allow district residential virtual students to participate in WIAA sports and district clubs, with the caveat that administration draft and return a formal eligibility policy at the August board meeting.

The change grew out of a request by a local family and drew lengthy debate about monitoring attendance, academic standing and how to ensure equitable treatment of students. "We could do what obviously whatever we want," one trustee said while urging the administration to develop clear standards; the board’s motion approved participation "subject to a full policy review in August" and passed after a recorded vote.

Administrators said the district can generate reports from the virtual vendor (Edmentum) to show student login times and course progress but acknowledged there is no perfect way to verify on-screen activity. Trustees discussed requiring virtual students to maintain enrollment in a minimum number of courses and regular progress benchmarks to remain eligible for athletics, and asked staff to prepare clear eligibility criteria and monitoring procedures for the next meeting.

Board members emphasized the decision is reversible: if the policy or its implementation causes problems, the board can revisit the change. The administration will draft the proposed eligibility rules and report back at the August meeting.