Florida virtual charter schools try to fend off closure

The school board in Hillsborough County, Fla. is looking to shut down a full-time virtual charter school, citing a range of concerns, including a low percentage of students taking state tests.

Hillsborough Virtual Academy is fighting the closure on several fronts, including an administrative legal proceeding, arguing that most of the problems cited by the district have been addressed.

The case raises a larger issue affecting full-time online schools in Florida, which came into view after the state issued A-F grades to public schools earlier this month: The difficulty of requiring students who take classes on their computers at home to take assessments administered by their school districts in central locations.

Virtual charters represent a relatively new, and relatively small, slice of online education in Florida, which is often cited as a top state for digital learning. They typically lack the authority to proctor the Florida Standards Assessment themselves. Supporters of online schools say as a result, they often struggle to ensure their students actually take all their required tests.

When the state issued preliminary A-F grades, more than two dozen virtual education outfits — including nine online charters, most statewide operations like Florida Virtual School’s full-time program, and a host of virtual programs run by school districts — were rated incomplete, usually because fewer than 95 percent of their students took state assessments.

In the case of the Hillsborough virtual charter, the school board cited a wide range of issues in 90-day termination notice filed earlier this month with the state Division of Administrative Hearings. It also flagged the low number of students taking state tests:

The 2014-2015 school grade was withheld and designated as incomplete (1). It is projected that the 2015-2016 school grade will be designated as incomplete as well, due to not meeting the required 95% participation rate for the state assessment.

School grades have since been issued, and that prediction proved accurate. The legal filing continued:

The above listed deficiencies involve blatant mismanagement and gross neglect by the Board of FLVA. Moreover, these issues have been brought to FLVA’s attention on numerous occasions over the past school year without any serious follow-up by the school. There can be no doubt that these deficiencies have negatively impacted academic achievement of the students of FL VA.

However, in their response, lawyers for the school argued it totally revamped its governing board during the past school year, and new board members already dealt with most of the issues the district raised. As for testing, the school contended:

Great improvement was made in participation rate for state assessment. In 2014-2015, the rate was 69% and this year it is 92%. Many parents have opted out of testing which limits FLVA’s ability to meet the threshold.

During a meeting this evening, Matthew Scott, an attorney representing the school, told the Tampa Bay-area Florida Virtual Academy governing board that he planned to meet with Hillsborough school district officials this week to see if the school could avoid a legal battle over whether it could remain open for the upcoming school year.

The school is run by K12 Inc, one of the largest online learning companies in the country. Jeff Kwitowski, a K12 vice president for policy and public affairs communications, said virtual charters in Florida are almost always “wholly dependent” on school districts to administer state tests. Parents have to show up at district-appointed locations according to district testing calendars, which can pose a logistical challenge for online students who aren’t usually bound by the time and place constraints that exist in traditional schools.

Florida Virtual Academies are being rebranded as Florida Cyber Charter Academies, and currently operate in nine districts. The Hillsborough school is not the only one fighting closure.

The school board in Pinellas County is also trying to shut down the Florida Virtual Academy it authorizes. The school tried to take the case to an administrative hearing, but the district rebuffed it, and the case is now being argued before the Second District Court of Appeal, where the school has filed an emergency motion to slow down the case and help stave off closure before the new school year begins.