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Welcome to Virtual High School
(by Walt Brown - March 05, 2008)
At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Pascack Valley Regional Board of Education voted to institute a “Virtual High School Program” at both high schools in the district.
As program coordinator, John Puccio explained, “I believe that all students should have the opportunity to maximize their high school educational time.” Since early autumn, a task force has been studying the Virtual High School Program (VHS), a staple in many schools since its inception in 1997.
Essentially, it will mean that 100 students – 50 per semester, or 25 at each building per semester – will take an “on-line” elective beginning in the 2008-2009 school year. Two hundred courses will be available, but for the students in the Pascack Valley District, it will essentially mean core curriculum offerings, plus 71-73 new “electives.”
As a sample, “Oceanography” was discussed. Since it is not offered in the district but is offered through VHS, four students – the limit for any one offering – could register for oceanography, and they would pursue their studies in a supervised classroom, although they would be taught by an instructor somewhere in cyber-space.
Two local teachers would become teachers in the program for one class period per day, and just as the Valley and Hills students could be taught by someone in Duluth or
Phoenix , the local teachers would provide instruction in their area of specialization to children in any school where VHS is offered.
The courses would be taken for credit and would impact a student’s grade point average, Puccio said.
Paul Cohen, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, said that before making any recommendations to the board, the committee contacted the top echelon of colleges that Pascack Valley Regional students apply to and attend.
“We studied the colleges where our students move on to,” he said, “and their admissions departments told us they look very favorably on these courses on a student’s academic resume.”
Cohen was asked about the costs involved in the program, and indicated that “enrollment in the VHS program” is done at a cost of $11,000 per school year, and that cost covers all students. There would also be start-up costs in the first year, as the two teachers selected would undergo 10 weeks of training and one or possibly two site coordinators would also receive a stipend for somewhat less intensive training. The start-up costs were estimated at $8,500, and that amount would be accrued once.
The initial resolution included a penalty for students who dropped out of VHS classes before taking the final exam. Nationally, 82 percent of the students who enroll go on to take the examination for the class. It was initially felt that if a student took one of the few precious and sought-after seats in this program and then dropped out, the student should be held financially accountable for the $425 semester or $850 (estimated) cost per year.
Trustees Bertram Siegel and Bert Ammerman both objected to the concept of having the students pay the fee for failure to complete the course. Both board members indicated they appreciated the lesson of financial accountability involved, but both also felt that the district’s students would do much better than the 82 percent success rate, and it would be foolish to penalize one or two students.
The resolution was amended to remove the financial penalty, although the door was left open to visit the statistical success of the program on a yearly basis, and, if needed, the cost could be put back into the program.
The “amendment” passed by a vote of 6-3; the resolution, as amended, then passed unanimously.
E-mail: pvcommunitylife@northjersey.com.
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