The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

E-schools offers flexibility, backers say

Local parents of three say traditional school ‘not right for our family.’

Municipal Court for Feb. 7
11:28 p.m.
Births for Feb. 7
11:27 p.m.
Police headlines for Feb. 7
11:25 p.m.
Local Focus: Champaign County for Feb. 7
11:23 p.m.
Local Focus: Clark County for Feb. 7
11:20 p.m.
> More headlines

By Margo Rutledge Kissell and Megan Gildow, Staff Writers 9:07 PM Saturday, August 28, 2010

NEW CARLISLE — Shelly and Scott Tidwell’s three children are among the more than 450 students in Clark and Champaign counties attending school online.

Their oldest daughter, Shelby, 17, started her education in traditional home schooling with mom Shelly.

Shelly and Scott both attended traditional public schools as students, and intended the same for their children, until they learned about home schooling from a friend at church.

“I had never really even had any thoughts of home school or really even knew that you could do that,” said Shelly.

In the fourth grade, they switched to online school but at sixth grade, Shelby wanted to give public school a try, so all three kids — Shelby, sister Madi, now 15, and younger brother Alan, 11 — went to Bethel Local Schools for four years.

“It was a nice experience being in brick and mortar,” said Shelly. “It just was not right for our family.”

So the Tidwells returned to virtual school with the Ohio Virtual Academy, based near Toledo, which has seen its enrollment grow to about 8,400 students in nine years.

It is one of Ohio’s 27 online schools offering education to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The e-schools are public charter schools that receive taxpayer dollars. They are operated by sponsors that might be a for-profit corporation, a school district or other educational entity.

Because the online charter schools are public schools, there are no tuition costs. Charter school students are counted as part of the funded enrollment base for school districts and payment to the e-schools are deducted from the foundation payment of the school district where the student lives. That cost is $5,718 per pupil, but e-schools receive more for special education students.

The flexibility to work at your own pace, support from school staff and a challenging curriculum are benefits of attending OHVA, said Shelly Tidwell.

“They really do listen, and they want to help you give your children the best education you can,” she said.

Sometimes the kids miss their friends from traditional public school and the chance to participate in activities like band and choir.

“I miss some of it, not all of it,” said Shelby. “I miss being able to talk to my friends.”

OHVA offers social supports such as field trips, get-togethers, prom, clubs and, most importantly for Shelby, a traditional graduation.

“I want to walk across the stage and wear high heels,” she said.

School’s open 24/7

At Ohio Virtual Academy, kindergartners through eighth-graders must do approximately 25 hours of course work per week; high school students 30 to 35 hours. It doesn’t matter if they log on in the morning or evening, said Beth French, development manager for the Ohio Virtual Academy, which is sponsored by the Ohio Council of Community Schools.

The school is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during the normal school year. Students, now on summer break, start back in late August.

French called the school another option for Ohio students and said they have participants in all 88 counties.

She said the e-school provides the same education to all students regardless of whether they live in an urban, suburban or rural environment. They get the exact same materials and have contact with the same licensed teachers.

Online schools have been criticized for bypassing teacher unions.

The Ohio Virtual Academy employs 275 teachers who work from home offices, she said.

The state requires teachers to have four annual face-to-face meetings with students, and most have weekly contact through e-mail or by phone, French said.

The number of e-school students has continued to climb statewide although 16 online schools have closed, according to a list provided by the Ohio Department of Education, which oversees them.

Tom Lasley, executive director of EDvention, a collaborative dedicated to accelerating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) talent in the Dayton area and ex-dean of the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Allied Professions, said one expert predicts that by 2020, half of high school classes will be taught online. He believes the e-option allows students to experience different forms of learning; and that, one day, spending hours away from home at school will be viewed as outdated as the one-room schoolhouse.

“I think e-schooling is going to mature in ways that are more strategic,” he said, “beyond the ideological battles we’re having now, that it’s either good or bad.”

Share this article