Franklin County launches first virtual school option

VINA – The Franklin County Schools Board of Education has approved the launch of a virtual school option for this fall.

Applications for the virtual program will be made available through Vina High School when enrollment opens later this summer.

Superintendent Greg Hamilton said this marks the first time Franklin County will operate a virtual high school. It’s a program he said is designed to provide flexibility for students with nontraditional needs. The virtual school will offer 30 seats for eligible students in grades 9-12 who are pursuing a diploma through online coursework.

Hamilton emphasized the model is still evolving, noting the initiative is still in its “infancy phase.”

“This will help the dropout situation in Franklin County,” Hamilton said. “There are students who need to work to support their families or have other unusual circumstances. This gives them an option.”

Students will complete coursework through Edmentum, an online platform, but will be required to report to campus twice every nine weeks.

These scheduled checkins will allow staff to monitor progress and determine whether students should remain enrolled in virtual school. Students not meeting expectations can be withdrawn from the program; however, options to help them get back on track will be explored first.

Teddy Humphres, principal of Vina High, said the students will have access to in-person support during check-ins and timely support via email.

“We’ll check their progress, help with any issues, and offer tutoring options if they’re struggling,” Humphres said. “If they fall behind and don’t catch up after support, they may have to return to their home school.”

Students will receive a Chromebook and have access to subject-specific teachers via email. If additional help is needed, staff will assist during the scheduled oncampus days. Sudents may also seek paid private tutors.

According to Humphres, one of the goals of the program is to serve students who are self-motivated, have health concerns, or need the flexibility to work or care for their family.

Some students may also benefit by advancing more quickly toward graduation, or pursuing dual enrollment in college courses.

“If they finish a course early, they may be able to start the next one right away,” Humphres said. “This opens up more options — some may even be able to graduate early and start college during what would’ve been their senior year.”

The virtual students will be counted as Vina High students but treated administratively as a separate group.

Hamilton said they will not be eligible for athletics unless already zoned to Vina, and will not participate in clubs or extracurriculars.

“Anything new is going to be a challenge and a learning experience,” Humphres said. “We’ll just try to make it better as we learn from it.”

Enrollment is open to students residing in Franklin County, including those within the Russellville City Schools district. There are no associated fees, but students must meet eligibility requirements and complete application paperwork.

Hamilton said it’s uncertain if all 30 available seats will be filled in the first year.

If the program is successful, it could transition into a standalone virtual school with its own staff and faculty — a move which would make it eligible for athletics.

“At 250, that’s when it becomes like a full school,” Hamilton said. “Right now, it will not have any impact on sports. These students cannot participate in athletics unless they are in the Vina district.”

Hamilton also noted that because the students will be counted as Vina students, any dropouts from the virtual program will negatively affect the school’s accountability report.

Russellville City

“Having a separate virtual school is not a state mandate, but having a virtual policy is,” said Russellville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Guinn. “What Greg (Hamilton) is doing is a really great idea. We are investigating that same concept, and we are hoping to have something in place by this fall.”

Guinn explained that a virtual policy simply outlines how a school system can provide remote instruction under certain circumstances, while a virtual school is a formal program offering a fulltime, structured remote or mostly remote learning experience.

He said city school officials have reached out to the state department but haven’t yet received guidance for questions they have.

“Nothing is official yet,” he added. “Our board has not approved anything.”

Guinn noted different approaches to a virtual school include being mostly or wholly virtual. Additionally, some virtual schools have teachers in a building who can help students one or two days a week if they are falling behind.

Guinn said the goal in exploring all of these possibilities is to try to meet the needs of those students who can benefit from having the flexibility available from virtual school, including students in high school who want to go ahead and work ahead.

“The virtual policy, the way it is now, is a hybrid model, but we’re looking at allowing students to take virtual courses outside of school that are core curricular —that will allow them to graduate on time and with their peers and also allow them to pursue other interests,” Guinn said.

He also noted other reasons some students might have interest in a virtual option.

“We know we have some children in middle and elementary that went through COVID, and they have anxiety issues — they don’t do so well with large crowds or classroom settings with other students,” Guinn added.

Instead of pursuing the homeschooling route, those students might decide to try a virtual option.

“Our model would look much like Lawrence County’s, where we would have the virtual but we would also have qualified teachers there to meet with the students on either a daily, weekly, or biweekly basis as the child may need it to come in and do face-toface tutoring for those core curricular areas, especially math and science,” Guinn added.

“We’re trying to meet the needs of our kids,” he said. “We’re just a little bit behind on that, but we’ll catch up. The board is considering some proposals, nothing I’ve asked them to take action on yet, but that’s coming soon.”