Burrell parents to decide between in-school or virtual instruction

As Burrell School District parents decide whether their children will learn at home online or attend classes in person, the school board is hoping not too many will choose a cyber school outside of the district.

That could potentially cost the district several hundred thousand dollars.

During a special meeting Tuesday night, the school board unanimously approved the district’s health and safety plan that lets parents choose the venue for their children’s education for 2020-21: live in the classroom, live virtual classes, Burrell’s eAcademy cyber school or an outside cyber school.

“We have to reinvent ourselves to keep our students. We have to meet what they need,” Superintendent Shannon Wagner said during the meeting.

The district is sending letters to the students’ families with a deadline of mid-August to decide where students will take classes for the first day of school Sept. 1.

Board President Tricia Shank also is concerned about students leaving the district to attend an outside cyber school.

“We’re trying to keep kids in the Burrell system and then keep the cost down for the district and taxpayers,” Shank said. Keeping students in the Burrell system will make it easier for them to move back and forth between home-based and on-site school instruction if government mandates change, she said.

The potential problem is if families choose an outside cyber school, they said.

While outside cyber schools advertise free education, “that is true for the family, but the cyber schools bill the school district,” she said. “Not all parents know that the outside cyber option costs the district and taxpayers.”

In June, Burrell surveyed parents on how best to educate their children during the pandemic. About 7% of the families were interested in virtual education options, Wagner said.

“If that 7% would pursue a cyber option outside the school district, that is roughly 126 students, which would cost the district about $1.5 million that would go out the door,” she said.

If a larger number of students would choose out-of-district cyber schools, “we don’t have that money (readily available to pay),” Wagner said.

Burrell averages 25 to 36 students attending an outside cyber school, costing the district about $446,000 per school year, she said. The district pays about $12,400 for each student who attends an outside cyber charter school. If the student needs special education, the cost is more than $21,000.

Burrell’s own cyber school, Burrell eAcademy, offered through the Westmoreland County Intermediate Unit, costs only about $3,500 extra per student.