WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | School Board Members Reluctantly Agree To Form Virtual School

School Board Members Reluctantly Agree To Form Virtual School

By James Zambroski

(LOUISVILLE) -- With school starting August 15th, the Jefferson County School board finally got its first look at a virtual high school the district was forced to set up after a federal audit last May. In a special session Friday afternoon, the board reluctantly approved plans for a so-called virtual school. As WAVE 3 Investigator James Zambroski reports, board members said they felt they had no choice.

"This is a bad deal," said board member Pat O'Leary. "But it's the only deal we have, the only card we have to play."

A federal education audit last May busted Jefferson County Public schools for failing to meet provisions of the "No Child Left Behind" law; specifically, for not moving good kids out of bad schools.

Board members said they were cited for not sending parent notification letters and for the implementation of the school choice provision of "No Child Left Behind."

Faced with the potential loss of $30 million in federal funding, the district was forced to notify 28,000 students that they could transfer to another school because their school did not meet federal standards.

But there's not nearly enough space, a virtual school became the proposed solution.

District officials plunged ahead with the $3 million plan that emphasizes online, computer teaching. About 700 students expressed interest in transferring.

But there's one problem: the school board didn't know anything about the new Jefferson County virtual high school.

We asked outgoing school superintendent Dr. Stephen Daeschner why action hadn't been taken sooner, since he had known about the problem in May.

"I think you've seen the timeline," Daeschner said. "We were still trying to work out with the feds and other things."

Not many people were happy during Friday's meeting, including Ann Elmore, who wanted to make her stance perfectly clear. "So any parent who wants to know where Ann Elmore is on that -- I do not support warehousing kids!"

O'Leary seemed frustrated by the timing. "The fact that we are a week ahead of school and the school board is just now getting this just absolutely infuriates me."

The board approved the new school by a 5-1 vote, but many details must still be worked out, including what to do if the computers break down.

The virtual school's principal, Buell Snyder, says they will simply use other educational tools at their disposal. "We will move right on with our lessons. There just will not be this other method of student learning until we get the system back up."

Here's the size of this problem: right now 28,000 students qualify for a transfer under the "No Child Left Behind Act. On August 10, more test scores will be coming in, meaning even more students will have the right to transfer just three days before the school year begins.

Related Stories:

• JCPS To Open Virtual Schools

Online Reporter: James Zambroski

Online Producer: Michael Dever