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Schools

QuickStory: Geneva School Board Rejects Online Charter School

The discussion is cordial, but School District 304 votes 7-0 for a resolution against a virtual online charter school in Geneva.

Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley brought many of its big guns to Monday night's School Board meeting in Geneva—including President Sharnell Jackson—but after a presentation and cordial conversation, the School District 304 Board of Education unanimously rejected the proposal to bring the charter school here.

"It was a bit late," School Board member Mary Stith said. "And the problem I‘m wrestling with is taking this money away from our district."

Stith said it costs about $6,300 to educate a student in Geneva each year, and the charter school could take as much as $8,000 per pupil from district coffers if it were to start up a Fox Valley charter school option that would serve students in Geneva and 17 other area districts.

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Most of those other school districts are considering the same action tonight or later this week, and indications to this point are that none will welcome the charter school with open arms.

"If you'd focused on a school for high achievers or kids with disciplinary issues, I could understand that," School Board member Tim Moran said. "But you also claim to focus on special needs kids, and this is where you lose me."

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Moran said he has a brother who is autistic, and he knows from personal experience how important one-on-one, face-to-face interaction is for students with special needs.

"I’m here to tell you, it’s not going to work," Moran said.

Jackson and and handful of other virtual-school administrators and educators stressed that the charter school is a non-profit entity, governed by a board of directors just as the Geneva School Board represents School District 304.

K12 Inc., the for-profit provider for the charter school, has come under fire in other states for some of its grading and reporting practices, while many have criticized its CEO, Ronald J. Packard, for benefitting to the tune of a $5 million total-compensation package in fiscal 2011.

But charter school representatives emphasized that K12 is the provider of the learning management system and online curriculum that enables the charter school to operate.

The virtual school's leaders say the school simply provides another choice for students and parents. They point out that children all learn differently—children with special needs, children on the autism spectrum, children with behavioral issues, children of military families, high-achieving students who aren't challenged by a typical school curriculum. They said a virtual school can help those students in ways a traditional bricks-and-mortar school can't.

"This is a model that works. It's not hypothetical," one of the representatives said Monday night.

Geneva School Board members were not only skeptical of the charter school's success rate but critical of the way the charter was brought to their attention. The board this week explaining the virtual school's positions and providing supporting data and testimony in detail.

"You started in January, then it was this rush rush," Stith said. "What is the hurry? Why could you not vet it out with other school districts? I wish you would have given some consideration."

"It does seem rushed to me," School Board member Matt Henry said.

School Board President Mark Grosso thanked the group for a "very snappy presentation," and when he called for a vote, the final tally was 7-0.

Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley's next step likely will be to apply to a state of Illinois commission to establish a charter, even if it is rejected by resolutions in all 18 school districts.

Jackson, who worked for 35 years in the Chicago public school system, said some of her children chose public schools and some attended private schools—her family's decision was simply a matter of choice and what was right for each child—and that is what Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley hopes to provide students in the Fox Valley.

She also thanked the School Board for hearing the group's presenatation and for the cordial and frank discussion. 

"We certainly have learned a lot in this process. I wish this had been typical of every public hearing," Jackson said. "I believe in public schools and I applaud your efforts here."

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