The coronavirus shutdown did not knock down cyber charter schools the same way it has brick and mortar schools because the bulk of instruction already was being delivered to cyber students online.
But state officials have warned cyber charters against trying to take advantage of the crisis to recruit new students during the shutdown, while school districts across the state grapple with how to provide instruction remotely. Brick-and-mortar school advocates say students jumping ship for cyber charters could further financially destabilize traditional school districts at an already vulnerable time.
An emergency school bill unanimously approved by the Pa. House and Senate Wednesday, however, put that issue to rest. The bill, which Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to sign, included language that freezes payments to school districts based on enrollments March 13, the day Wolf announced the shutdown.
That means cyber charter schools could accept new students during the shutdown, but they would not get compensated for those students until the shutdown is lifted.
As it stands, the shutdown could get lifted April 9. That’s the date Wolf set for schools to possibly reopen, but it depends on the spread of the coronavirus and many experts believe schools will be shuttered longer.
The Commonwealth Charter Academy, which provides virtual instruction to students across the state, had applications from 50 families pending on Monday, a spokesman told public news station WHYY. The applications were put on hold while CCA awaits direction from the state.
The executive director for the PA Coalition of Public Charter Schools said cyber charters weren’t trying to profiteer, but that they should not be penalized for being exceptionally prepared for distance learning at a time distance learning is in demand.
“We accept that cyber charters will not get paid for any new students. Are we happy about it? No,” said Ana Meyers. “We would like to be paid for kids we’re educating” just like traditional schools are paid for the children they are educating.
Meyers said cyber charters have offered to assist the Pennsylvania Department of Education or any school district in the Commonwealth with questions or concerns about how to pivot to distance learning, since that is their speciality. Interested school districts can fill out a survey circulating on social media to get linked up with a cyber charter for professional insight and assistance, she said.
She said PDE nor any school district has accepted their offer so far. But Meyers noted two school districts participated in a free webinar offered by a charter that contained professional guidance for successful distance learning.
“Politics should be put aside and we should work together,” Meyers said. “Our goal is not to take students away, but we believe students should be educated.”
Meyers said they have accepted that cyber charters will not be reimbursed by school districts for educating transfer students during the shutdown, but she said cyber charters are further hampered by being unsure if they can legally enroll students at all during the shutdown.
She said language on the state education website is unclear.
“We are in a crisis,” she said. “We need clarity. I just wish we could get an answer.”
Cyber charter schools currently educate more than 37,000 students in Pennsylvania, according to the charter school coalition. The education is free to parents, but home school districts must pay the annual tuition, which varies by district but ranges from $9,000 to $15,000 for non-special education students.
The recent conflict between cyber charters and traditional schools emerged shortly after the shutdown when a cyber charter leader proclaimed they were still “open,” in a newspaper article, said Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
All public schools, including cyber charters, were supposed to close their physical buildings, so the statement prompted the state department of education to warn cyber schools that they too, should have closed their physical buildings and be practicing social distancing with any online instruction that was still being offered.
Meyers said the issue was a misunderstanding and that the statement about being “open” merely reflected the charter’s ability to offer continued education at a time when many traditional school districts did not know how they were going to proceed with instructional days. Cyber schools were offline for a day or two as they regrouped, she said, canceling field trips and any in-person instruction that was planned and getting teachers set-up to teach from their homes.
DiRocco said the legislation approved Wednesday allows districts to focus on getting back to instruction instead of worrying about potential unexpected budget deficits due to a spike in tuition payments to cyber charters.
“It would be very disruptive for everyone involved if students tried to pivot the last few months to cyber charters,” DiRocco said. “It could have been a huge financial hit at a time school districts need all the resources they can. There is already so much going on, we didn’t need to add to it.”
The new law keeps everything “in place,” DiRocco said.
If parents want to transfer students to cyber charters after schools reopen, then that would be their choice, he said. That’s when payments to charters for new enrollments potentially could be authorized.
But if schools don’t reopen this school year, it’s unclear how those potential payments would be handled.
“Our association is not against cyber charters,” DiRocco said, adding that he thought it was great that cyber charters were offering free assistance and a webinar. “We think they have a place in the educational environment. We just want to make sure the rules are the same for all.”
READ: Pa. school districts prepare for possibility of students not returning to classrooms