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Boyertown District Considering Its Own Cyber School: The Plan Would Help the District Avoid Having to Pay for Online Classes That District Youngsters Take Through Nondistrict Schools, a School Board Member Says.

Posted on: Friday, 16 June 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Rebecca Vandermeulen, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jun. 16--The Boyertown School District is studying the idea of running its own cyber-charter school or at least creating individual classes that are taken entirely online.

School board member Michael A. Kulp said he was thinking recently about district students enrolled in cyber-charter schools, which allow students to take Internet classes at home.

Public school districts are responsible for educating all children within the district, and each student enrolled in a cyber-charter school costs the district money for tuition.

Boyertown has 72 students using cyber-charter schools, each costing The district about $7,100 per year, or about $511,000 total.

Rather than see the money go elsewhere, Kulp came up with a solution: the district could start its own cybercharter school.

"It just popped into my head," Kulp said recently. "It's just an idea that I asked the administration to research."

Dr. Harry W. Morgan, Boyertown superintendent, said the district is studying why some Boyertown students use cyber-charter schools instead of district schools, the cost of operating a cyber-charter school and the idea of offering classes entirely over the Internet.

Offering a combination of traditional schooling and online classes is likely in the future, he said.

Some Berks County high schools, such as Holy Name, Tulpehocken and Wilson, already allow students to take classes over the Internet during the school day.

"We haven't ruled out the possibility of a charter school," Morgan said. "We're just gathering information so we can make an informed decision."

Boyertown wouldn't be the first Pennsylvania district to establish a cyber-charter school. Eight of the 12 cyber-charters operating statewide were founded by school districts.

For example, the 21st Century Cyber Charter School in Downingtown, Chester County, was formed in 2001 by superintendents and intermediate unit executives in suburban Philadelphia.

Kulp said Boyertown students who would use a district-run cyber-charter school might also have access to the district's libraries, sports teams and teachers.

"It seems to me that it could be a win for the kids and a win for the school district," Kulp said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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