Flexible online school during COVID-19? Wichita families no longer have that choice
The message from Wichita public schools was clear and insistent:
Students planning to return this fall would have three options — in-person classes at their assigned school; MySchool Remote, which duplicates traditional school but is delivered through teleconferencing; and Education Imagine Academy, a complete virtual school offering more flexibility.
One of those options — Education Imagine Academy — is no longer a choice as of Thursday, when the virtual school hit capacity and stopped accepting applications.
Turns out, the Wichita district has only 500 licenses for the virtual school, which means about 1% of its nearly 50,000 students ever had that option.
In a survey distributed to Wichita families in June, about 15% of parents said they would prefer school to be online for the fall semester.
James Porter, whose two high-schoolers attend Heights High School, said he enrolled his children early for the fall semester, as district officials recommended. They went back online this week to study the options more closely and choose their preferred learning model.
After deciding on Education Imagine Academy, they discovered during the enrollment process that the school was already full.
“In my household when we tried to do this yesterday, it became a full-on battle with tears and crying,” Porter said.
“Apparently, this was never an option. . . The emails (from the district) are so damaging and misleading.”
In a ParentLink email sent July 23, Superintendent Alicia Thompson said three learning models would be available to Wichita families.
“We know choice is important to you as you prepare for a new year of learning, and I’m pleased to offer each of our students these high-quality opportunities,” Thompson said in the email.
An attachment labeled “Learning Options for Families” explained all three options and directed parents to the enrollment website. There was no mention of Education Imagine Academy spots being limited.
On Friday the district updated its website with this note: “As of July 30, 2020, Education Imagine Academy is at capacity for the 20-21 school year.”
That puts parents like Porter in a tough spot. He feels uneasy sending his children back to school amid soaring cases of COVID-19, but he doesn’t think the MySchool Remote option would work for them.
Under that model, school hours are the same as in-person classes — 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. for high-schoolers — and students are required to be online and interacting with their teachers the entire day.
“That just doesn’t seem reasonable, to be sitting there in front of a computer all day,” Porter said.
He said his children, a freshman and a junior, wanted the flexibility to be able to log on anytime — including evenings or weekends — and complete assignments at their own pace.
District spokeswoman Susan Arensman cited “overwhelming interest” in the virtual school, but said the district limited capacity to 500 “in order to assure we can offer a high-quality learning experience for students.”
As with magnet schools, additional applicants will be put on a waiting list should additional openings become available, Arensman said.
In the meantime, the district is urging parents to enroll and select one of the remaining options.
“MySchool Remote . . . is another terrific consideration for students who desire to learn at home,” she said. “Students in MySchool Remote will remain connected to their neighborhood or magnet school and will have a regular full day of engaging instruction with WPS teachers directly, with appropriate breaks and activities throughout the day.”
Stan Reeser, a Wichita school board member, said he expected Education Imagine Academy to be popular, particularly during a pandemic.
“I think it’s exciting that we’ve hit capacity on this,” he said. “I thought we would get to that number, and I think virtual school will continue to grow in the future.”
Reeser said he would consider expanding Education Imagine Academy if there’s a demand.
“If we find that 500 students do very well at this this year — because it takes a unique student to be able to excel in virtual (school), which is a lot different than MySchool Remote — then yes, I think we would definitely look at increasing the numbers.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 4:26 PM.
