Recruiting signals a 'new mind set' / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, April 8, 2005

Some fear aggressive competition for state money

April 8, 2005

Virtual schools may not have physical boundaries, but that doesn't mean lines can't be crossed.

Lawrence Virtual School principal Gary Lewis has canceled a 40-stop recruiting tour of Kansas towns after hearing complaints from officials in some districts he intended to visit.

"There was some controversy with that because superintendents and other folks felt like we were in the area recruiting students and stealing them from their school districts," Lewis said. "So we've backed off on just forcing ourselves into their district areas."

It wasn't so much the idea that the Lawrence school, which has 134 students statewide, could steal students from Hutchinson that bothered Winona Winn, superintendent of Unified School District 308. The Hutchinson school district opened the Hutchinson Cyber Charter School this year. That virtual school caters to children in Reno County -- most of whom live in Hutchinson. Winn said she didn't think the Lawrence Virtual School would have siphoned students from the Hutchinson cyber school, which has seven students.

"I just find it unusual for districts to recruit students," she said Thursday. "I just hate to see schools get into the habit of recruiting. I guess it's just a whole paradigm that I'm not used to seeing. It's a new mind set."

State school funding is based on enrollment, and aid dollars follow students to whichever district enrolls them. Some fear that aggressive recruiting will pit districts against one another in competition for state dollars.

Recruiting efforts for the Lawrence Virtual School, which caters to students statewide, haven't ended.

Lewis and teachers continue to hold open houses at the school's offices housed in what was Centennial School, 2145 La. They held two Thursday.

Alex Goertz, 9, from left, his brother, Adam, 7, and Jake Stegall, 8, are glued to their books Thursday as their mothers attend an open house for the Lawrence Virtual School. The school's recruiting practices in other parts of the state have recently raised eyebrows.

School officials also travel to different Kansas towns, if families wanting to learn more about the virtual school extend an invitation. The school has an invitation to meet with several families in Wichita, Lewis said. School officials also have been invited to Emporia, Olathe and Overland Park.

Parents continue to show interest in the Lawrence Virtual School, which grew faster than was forecast and is completing its inaugural year. Lewis said he expected 400 to 600 children to enroll in the school's kindergarten through eighth-grade program. But it's unknown how many high school students will take courses in the 2005-2006 year, which will be the first time the school offers classes beyond eighth grade.

Home-schooled children tend to make up the bulk of the Lawrence Virtual School's student body. They also are the children Lewis and his staff recruit.

Parents who home school usually are attracted to the program because it provides curriculum and access to teachers. That was the case for Lawrence resident Debi Farmer.

"Looking at it, it looks very appealing," Farmer said. She attended an open house Thursday morning with her four children: Emmett, 16; Jacob, 15; Kyla, 10; and Kira, 7.

Abigail Wandling, 4, climbs a railing as students and teachers mingle at an open house for the Lawrence Virtual School. Parents and students attended the open house Thursday at the former Centennial School, 2145 La., to learn of LVS's new curriculum.

"I like that they have teachers to help with classes," she said.

Farmer hasn't formally enrolled her children in the virtual school's 2005-2006 academic year. But with two boys at the high school level, Farmer said she wanted to make sure her sons meet the state's education standards.

The virtual school is still working out curriculum details for the high school program, Lewis said. But it will be ready for next fall, and the local virtual school is working with the Florida Virtual School on the program.

"We have different components to the high school program," Lewis said.

The high school program will offer a course recovery plan which allows students to make up credits previously failed or not completed and also advanced placement courses, Lewis said.

"Students could be enrolled full time or part time, or they could just come in and take one or two courses," he said.