Peninsula School District to re-launch costly online learning program

Price tag includes $75,000 to start and $110,000 per year

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

The Peninsula School District will spend $75,000 to relaunch its online learning program by October.

The redesigned program will allow students both inside and outside of the school district to take classes through an online system.

The idea was proposed at a school board meeting earlier this month as a way to appeal to high-achieving PSD students — such as those in the Running Start Program, who are looking to fast-track their high school education — and students who are no longer part of or have never been a part of the district.

Home-schooled students are one example.

“There are some parts of our community that do not like being part of a public school district,” said Claudia Thompson, assistant superintendent of learning and teaching.

Students who have dropped out or students who are enrolled in the PSD but behind in credits are other examples of those who could benefit from online learning.

The previous program — which offered social studies, language arts and P.E. classes — folded last year, due to a lack of student participation. Only 60 students were enrolled, which was a decrease from the previous year, Superintendent Terry Bouck said.

The PSD was losing $120,000 annually on the program.

The latest incarnation will cost $110,000 to run annually after the $75,000 in start-up costs.

J.B. Fitzpatrick, the PSD’s technology director, suggested that this program will avoid the sort of money problems that plagued that previous one. Because this version will focus on math programs, it will likely attract more students from outside the district — which will, in turn, attract more state-funded dollars.

Fitzpatrick said that, after 12 to 18 months, the online learning program would pay for itself.

At this point, however, the district is still not sure how it will pay for the program initially.

There are still other details to work out before the PSD can start online learning in October. Fitzpatrick said the district needs to create advertising or promotions to attract students.

“If we rush it, we will end up doing it poorly,” he said.

School Board President Jill Guernsey expressed support for the idea while stressing that she wants to see online learning work as effectively as possible.

“I want us to have a program,” she said, “but I want it to be a good one.”

Breakdown of costs

At Thursday’s school board meeting, Technology Director J.B. Fitzpatrick said the simplest way to start an online learning program is to purchase the curriculum from an outside source.

Other costs include paying for a teacher to run the program.

Here’s a breakdown of the $75,000 start-up budget:

$30,000 for a part-time certificated teacher to coordinate, assess and track student enrollment and progress.

$15,000 for a part-time office assistant.

$30,000 in online resources, curriculum, curriculum materials and technology.

Reach Reporter and Columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.