Charter School Group Will Appeal Rejection in St. Charles

Anyone hoping that Monday night’s Board of Education vote to reject a virtual charter school proposal would be the end of the contentious issue should guess again.

The president of the nonprofit organization that is pitching plans for a virtual charter school drawing students from as many as 18 school school districts said the nonprofit would appeal Monday’s unanimous vote by the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Board of Education.

Virtual Learning Solutions President Sharnell Jackson, in response to an email St. Charles Patch sent late Monday asking for reaction, wrote, “Virtual Learning Solutions will appeal to the Illinois State Charter Commission.”

Virtual Learning Systems hopes to draw $8,800 per student from St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 who choose the virtual charter school. But the Board of Education soundly rejected the plan as noncompliant with state law and saying it would not serve the best interests of the students for which it was designed.

Virtual Learning Solutions is a nonprofit group that had formed to create the charter school, but which intend to contract with K12 to educate the students. K12 is the nation’s largest virtual school company, operating 48 full-time virtual schools as of July 2012.

The plan has met with opposition in St. Charles and other communities, where critics have taken issue with K12 as a business that would be profiting on tax dollars. Other questions and criticisms raised about K12 have ranged from student achievement concerns to investigations of the company in other states.

District 303 Superintendent Dr. Donald Schlomann said recently that if Virtual Learning Systems were to win an appeal to overturn the local Board of Education’s decision, the district would be required to pay it $8,800 per local student enrolling in the virtual charter school, unless the district went to court to fight the state’s decision.

Related:

• Report to the District 303 board: Virtual Learning Solutions Proposal Review
• April 9, 2013: St. Charles District 303 Rejects Virtual Charter School
• April 8, 2013: Review 4/8/2013 St. Charles District 303 Rejection of Virtual Charter School
• April 6, 2013:
• March 24, 2013: D303 Approaching Virtual Charter School With Caution
• March 20, 2013: Letter: Forums Put K12 Virtual Charter School in False Light
• March 18, 2013: Letter: Ask Your School Board to 'Vote No' Against Online Charter School
• March 14, 2013: K12 Virtual Charter School Under Heavy Fire by Illinois Jobs Activists
• March 12, 2013: Fox Valley Charter School Controversy: K12 Disputes Grade Tampering Reports

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