Fayette schools shutting down Virtual Learning Academy. What you need to know

Created in fall 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic stopped in-person classes, Fayette County School’s Virtual Learning Academy is shutting down at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year.

The elementary K-5 Virtual Learning Academy will close and students will be transitioned back to in-person classes.

The middle and high school Virtual Learning Academy will merge with an existing online program called the Success Academy. The Success Academy, on Georgetown Road, is designed to serve students 16 and older who are not on track to graduate. The Virtual Learning Academy has offices on Russell Cave Road.

Members of the Fayette County Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to “re-imagine” the Virtual Learning Academy, as it currently exists, for the 2022-23 school year, district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said.

Deffendall said elementary students will transition to in-person learning at their regularly assigned school in the fall because the state waiver that allows elementary students to receive virtual instruction expires at the end of this school year.

Middle and high school students would have the option of continuing to learn online at The Success Academy.

At the Virtual Learning Academy for K-12 students, they receive daily instruction and interact with teachers on a set schedule. Daily attendance in online classes is required, as are participation and completion of daily assignments. The level of expectation and accountability resemble that of the traditional classroom, but all takes place online, the district website said.

The Virtual Learning Academy currently serves 493 students in grades kindergarten through 12, and only 16 new students were slated to enroll next year, Deffendall said.

The district’s website said as of February, 49% of the students in the Virtual Learning Academy were white, 26% were Black, 13% were Hispanic, and 4% were Asian. Sixty-three percent of students qualified for free and reduced meals, 7% were English language learners and 13% were in special education.

Virtual Learning Academy parent Matthew A. Zupancic wrote school board members prior to Wednesday’s meeting saying, “I’m shocked that this comes without any warning or input from any of the hundreds of people affected by such a decision; teachers, staff, students and parents. “

“I implore the board to do the right thing and move to delay any final decision until the voices of those affected can be heard,” he said.