Penns Valley’s cyber school is growing. Why is the district considering getting rid of it?

Despite rising student interest, the Penns Valley Area school board is considering whether to close its in-house cyber school program, with officials citing concerns about teacher quality, attendance issues and more.

During a two-hour board work session on Tuesday, the administration presented a recommendation to amend or eliminate the district’s cyber school program. PV Cyber has been a part of the district’s curriculum for 18 years, offering both full-time and part-time instruction for K-12 students.

The cyber program is free for full-time students or for students looking to take a course not offered by the Penns Valley School District. Students who want to take a course that is offered in-person through the district must pay course fees — either $275 for a half credit or $550 for a full credit course. If students do not complete a course on time and need to extend it or need to retake a course, they must also pay a course fee.

But PV Cyber is subcontracted through the company Edgenuity, so the district has very little control or oversight into curriculum, attendance or teacher quality, assistant superintendent Sherri Connell said.

“I can have four kids taking 11 Grade English in a cyber, but they may all have different teachers and they all may be using different materials,” Connell said. “So there’s really no there’s no checks in ‘are they following our curriculum?’ They’re following supposedly PA standards, but not necessarily our curriculum.”

Connell said teachers can change multiple times in a single course and it’s not uncommon for students to wait at least 1-2 days for questions to be answered.

Despite the administration’s concerns about PV Cyber, its popularity among students is growing rapidly. In 2019-2020, PV Cyber had 11 full-time students. This school year, 67 students are doing classes online full-time, with the majority being juniors and seniors, Connell said.

“There’s a significant number of juniors and seniors are moving to cyber and by their own admission, so they don’t get up in the morning if they’re driving,” Connell said. “That’s why we’ve seen that increase especially with the senior high. We’ve had kids tell us that they’re GPA boosting because cyber is easier.”

Cyber classes are asynchronous, so students can log on at any time to complete assignments. Students are expected to log at least three hours a day, five days a week online or risk falling behind in the course, which can put grades and athletic eligibility at risk.

But at Tuesday’s meeting, some parents and staff shared positive experiences with the cyber program. Five parents attended the meeting to show support for the cyber program and the added flexibility and course offerings it brings for students, especially at the high school level.

For some students, it’s an opportunity to take advanced courses not offered in person at Penns Valley or to explore work-study options. Brandi Yanada, a Penns Valley parent who spoke at public comment during the work session, said her son was able to work at her company and the YMCA due to PV Cyber’s flexible schedule.

Yanada said the cyber program works well as long as parents stay informed and involved.

“We do not have a program problem, we have a parent problem,” she said.

Rising popularity of the program also means rising costs for the district. In 2019-2020, PV Cyber cost $65,629. In 2023-2024, it’s expected to cost the district $275,000. Still, board members worry that removing the cyber program could drive students to outside cyber charters, which would increase the district’s charter tuition payments.

Board president Domer Smeltzer asked for the administration to survey cyber students and families to see who would consider a return to Penns Valley in-person classes or would pursue charter options if the program was removed.

“My understanding is the reason we have our own program is because it’s cheaper for us to do it than it is to go through that,” Smeltzer said. “So if every one of those students decides to stay cyber, our budget’s gonna go up.”

The Penns Valley school board will meet next on April 17 for its voting meeting. It’s unclear if the cyber program would be voted on at that time.