Schools
Full Time Or Nothing For LEUSD's Online Students
Last week board members concurred that allowing students in brick and mortar classrooms to take one or two online courses would be too costly and the system could be abused.
The has approved a plan that requires students enrolled in the Southern California Online Academy attend full time.
Last week board members concurred that allowing students in brick and mortar classrooms to take one or two online courses would be too costly and the system could be abused.
“Students could participate in SCOA (Southern California Online Academy) just to get a higher GPA,” said Frank Passarella, district superintendent. “I don’t think you want kids bouncing back and forth.”
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The district needs average daily attendance revenue to cover school costs. If a student were only taking a course or two online, the academy would not receive that money.
“The school must pay for itself,” said Susan Scott, board president. “We can’t operate in the red.”
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By law, the district cannot charge money for public education, whether it is in the classroom or online.
The new online academy kicked off this week with 10 teachers and about 300 students.
Students within the district who need classes to graduate -- like fine arts -- can still take the courses in regular classrooms. They can also attend extra-curricular activities like music and sports at traditional school sites as long as they live within the district boundaries.
Last week the board also approved requirements that students attending online school have their own valedictorian, salutatorian and graduation ceremony. They will not graduate alongside students enrolled in brick and mortar schools.
Online enrollees take two courses every six to seven weeks and earn 10 credits in each course. They complete the equivalent of 40 credits each semester.
Online students are still required to take state tests and final exams.
Teachers are treated the same and have the same kind of contracts whether they are at a school or teaching online academy students.
The academy is a dependent charter school, which means the Lake Elsinore Unified School District operates it.
The central office for the online academy is at 1405 Education Way, Lake Elsinore.
