The Volusia County school district’s online learning platform is seeing a “dramatic” increase in enrollment thanks, of course, to the coronavirus pandemic.
Full-time enrollment for Volusia Online Learning, which functions like a K-12 school within the district, has shot up nearly four times what it was at this time last year — and it’s expected to keep going up, said acting VOL principal J. Susy Peterson. By the time enrollment for the traditional school year closes at the end of July, she expects VOL to have 500 to 600 full-time students, compared to the typical 100 to 150.
Families got a taste of remote learning at the end of the last school year, although the emergency plans implemented by the district weren’t as comprehensive as traditional virtual schooling would be.
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Now, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that campuses could open for traditional, in-person instruction, but the choice is really up to local school districts if they want to follow those recommendations or take a more conservative or inventive approach to education in August.
At this point, parents in Volusia and Flagler still don’t know what school will look like in the fall — and it’s leading some to go with virtual school options they can count on.
“There hasn’t been enough information released about what’s going to happen,” said Mike Coffman, a Deltona parent with a rising fifth and sixth grader. “I’d rather be safe than sorry at this point.”
The Coffmans chose Volusia Online Learning, but Jeri Cole’s family chose Florida Virtual School for almost the exact same reason. FLVS is its own school district within the state.
“There’s not enough information,” Cole said. “I don’t even at this point want to mess with going into a brick and mortar school until Florida knows what it’s doing.”
Cole chose FLVS because her four daughters have used the platform before and they’re comfortable with it. But families like the Coffmans are having to make the choice for themselves: VOL, or FLVS, or something outside of the public school system?
For district officials, it can be a financial concern. Florida doles out school funding based on the number of students in a district. If families pick FLVS over the in-district option, that means less money coming to the Volusia County school district.
At the time of publication, Florida Virtual School had not seen any increases in full-time enrollment compared to last year according to spokeswoman Tania Clow. However, she said, staff was expecting enrollment to increase if COVID-19 continued to interrupt traditional learning.
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The gradual siphoning of traditional public school students to other forms of schooling, like charter schools, private schools and home-schooling, has long been on the minds of Volusia school officials. In recent years they’ve made an effort to ramp up online offerings and increase promotion of the in-district options.
School Board member Ruben Colon, who has two children who go to school through Volusia Online Learning and in the past has championed the expansion of online options within the district, said his primary concern is getting students back to school and learning — wherever parents think that’s best.
“You’ve got folks who haven’t left their house since March, and you’ve got folks who believe this is a hoax, and you’ve got everything in between,” he said. “The reality is, this is going to come down to what everybody thinks is right for their family.”
So how can parents know if virtual learning is right? Do your research, Peterson and Cole said.
Virtual schooling offers a lot of flexibility. Students can take a full course load or just one or two, they can complete them on their own schedule and they can switch back to traditional schooling at any time. But it’s obviously different than learning in a classroom.
“Virtual is not for everybody just like brick and mortar isn’t for everybody,” Peterson said.
Students can take core courses, electives or even physical fitness online. One problem is access to advanced programs like in the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge programs at high schools, or specialized courses through academics. FLVS offers some Advanced Placement courses.
Volusia Online Learning is hosting virtual information sessions every Tuesday and Thursday, and accepting applications for full-time enrollment until July 31. Additionally, Volusia Online Learning teachers are district employees. And if the district isn’t offering a particular course, it can access courses from other providers — including FLVS.
FLVS Full Time enrollment is tentatively scheduled to close July 24. Families can enroll part-time on a rolling basis through either platform.
For more information, visit volusiaonlinelearning.com or flvs.net.
