The future of the Bedford Academy for Virtual Learning will be discussed tonight at a regular Bedford County School Board meeting, along with a preliminary report on whether the division expects to meet federal accountability standards known as AYP.
The regular meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Bedford Science and Technology Center, will be the last before school starts again Aug. 24.
In a school board meeting in mid-July, school board members were critical of the cost to offer the Academy for Virtual Learning, a mostly Web-based school for kindergarten through seventh grade.
In its pilot year, the division paid nearly $7,000 to offer the virtual school, Director of Finance Randy Hagler said at the July meeting. He estimated that the program would cost about $6,000 if offered in 2009-10.
Before the board agreed to offer the school, they had been told that the program would pay for itself through enrollment fees for out-of-district students and federal and state funds for local students.
Today, Superintendent Douglas Schuch is scheduled to present a recommendation for implementing the school in 2009-10.
Schuch also is scheduled to present a preliminary report on the accountability measure known as Adequate Yearly Progress.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires public schools to meet 29 different benchmarks — which have higher pass rates each year — to achieve AYP.
Last year, six of Bedford County’s 20 schools did not make AYP: Bedford Primary and Bedford Elementary (which are counted as one school), Bedford Middle, Staunton River Middle, Montvale Elementary, Stewartsville Elementary and Thaxton Elementary.
The board also is scheduled to hold a 6 p.m. closed meeting.
Also at the regular meeting, the board is scheduled to:
- Consider changing its policy for community use of school facilities. A draft of the new policy recommends a removal of restrictions for how often organizations may use school facilities. The policy currently limits the use of school facilities to no more than once a month for organizations not affiliated with the division.
- Discuss negotiations with the Bedford Board of Supervisors to build a new gym at Bedford Primary School.
To see the board’s full agenda and related documents online, go to www.bedford. k12.va.us, click “BoardDocs” and select a meeting on the left side to view details.
For more information, residents may contact Edwards at redwards@bedford.k12.va.us.
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