MCPS decision to close virtual academy a ‘gut punch’ for families, students (2024)

Editor’s note: This article, originally published at 6:30 p.m., May 31, 2024, was updated at 6:39 p.m., June 3, 2024, to add a comment from Jennifer Martin, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, and information about the school board’s budget request for the Virtual Academy.

Parents of students enrolled in the Montgomery County Public Schools Virtual Academy say they’ll continue to advocate for the district to fund the online program despite learning Thursday that it will close at the end of the school year.

According to a letter sent Thursday evening to Montgomery Virtual Academy families, the district has decided to close the program due to “budget constraints.” David Chia, a director in the MCPS Office of School Support and Well-Being, signed the letter.

“It’s certainly a gut punch,” said Sterling High of Takoma Park Friday, a parent of a fourth-grade student in the virtual academy.

The closure of the academy was one of the proposed cuts under consideration by MCPS officials, as the school system grapples with closing a $30 million budget shortfall. Last week, the County Council adopted its $7.1 billion county operating budget for fiscal year 2025, which includes $3.3 billion for the school district.

The Board of Education had requested more than $4.2 million for the virtual academy next school year, according to its FY 2025 recommended budget. The budget request also included 52.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for the academy.

Jennifer Martin, the President of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), told MoCo360 Friday that the closure of the academy would impact 81 union members.

“It’s causing a lot of upheaval for our members and for the families who rely on the [academy] for their students, for their children,” Martin said. “We are working hard to make sure that our contract is honored and that MCEA unit members who are there get placement in a position that is suitable and that they are not experiencing undue hardship.”

Montgomery Virtual Academy first opened in the 2021-2022 school year for students with prolonged health concerns or thrived while learning from home during the pandemic. Students who apply and are accepted into the program, remain enrolled at their home schools but take all of their classes online. They can also participate in in-person sports and extracurricular activities.

The County Council’s allocation funds 99.2% of the school board’s recommended budget and is the highest-ever amount of funding MCPS will receive from the county, but it is not enough to fully fund all programs and services. Layoffs of up to 150 educators, the delay of pre-kindergarten expansion the increasing of class sizes are also being considered to close the budget gap.

The school board is expected to finalize the MCPS budget at its June 11 meeting.

MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez wrote in an email to MoCo360 Friday that the academy closure will impact 708 students in grades two through 12 who were enrolled in the program for the 2024-2025 school year. Lopez did not share the cost savings associated with closing the academy.

Academy families say they are planning to advocate for the program by staging a student sit-in on Monday at the school board headquarters in Rockville.

The idea is to “bring [the] classroom to the board, to [Interim Superintendent Monique Felder] and basically have them hopefully come visit us out there to see what these classes are like, see what these kids are doing,” High said.

He said the announcement that the academy is closing took his family by surprise, “especially since we have been told all along that nothing is final until the vote on [June 11].”

High noted that the academy has been a positive alternative to in-person schooling, which is not possible for his son due to medical reasons. His younger daughter, of kindergarten age, also has not attended school in person.

Courtney Evans, High’s wife, told MoCo360 Wednesday that she and the couple’s two children have been dealing with the symptoms of long COVID for years. Symptoms such as fatigue and headaches have prevented the children from attending in-person school. However, virtual schooling has offered her son the flexibility to take breaks during the school day, she said.

Evans and High also believe that it is much safer for their children to attend school virtually and have seen their son thrive in the program by making friends, actively participating in class and not missing out on school days due to illness.

In addition to the virtual learning sit-in, a petition urging Felder and the school board to continue funding the virtual academy is gaining traction. “By doing so, you will support the diverse needs of our students and families and demonstrate a commitment to excellence, equity, and innovation in education, thereby‘expanding opportunity and unleashing potential’for MCPS students & staff,” the petition states.

As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, the petition – which launched May 24 – had received more than 1,225 signatures. The petition webpage also features videos created by academy students and parents expressing support for the program.

The academy “offers flexibility, personalized learning and can be a great option for students who benefit from a different learning environment,” one student said in a video testimony.

In a different video, another student with drug-resistant epilepsy talked about feeling safer learning from home.

“I was risking my safety every time I was going to in-person school,” the student said. “I have gotten concussions from falling down stairs going to the nurse’s office. The [academy] helps students with disabilities and also teachers with disabilities so much. So, getting rid of it would be absolutely devastating.”

Chia’s letter to families acknowledged the decision to close the school would be “disappointing.” He wrote the district was “committed to working collaboratively” with families to make the transition to in-person school “as smooth as possible.” In addition, he said school counselors would be available to support the students.

The letter also outlines the next steps families can take as academy students transition to their home school for the 2024-2025 school year.

According to the letter, the student’s home school will “initiate contact” with families to begin developing a “transition plan” for students.

MCPS is also offering two options to families whose children have “a situation” that prevents them from attending school in person: enrolling the student in Interim Instructional Services or home-schooling the student, according to the letter.

For families concerned about their student returning to their home school and who would like the student to attend a different school in person, MCPS is allowing academy students to apply for a school transfer, the letter stated. Chia said students who request a transfer “will be prioritized and reviewed with urgency.”

High said academy families are holding onto hope that the school board will ask for supplemental funding from the County Council to keep the academy open. They also plan to continue reaching out to the school board and MCPS officials, talking with local elected officials, state representatives and senators, and discussing whether there is legal action they can take.

“We’re trying to talk to a lawyer right now to see what recourse we have at this point to stop them from cutting it and then what recourse we would have afterward to raise concerns about [the district’s] discriminatory act of eliminating this equal access and free and appropriate access for a lot of these kids that wouldn’t have it otherwise,” High said.

He said that attending in-person classes is not an option for his family.

The academy is “the least restrictive access to education for these kids that they’re just taking away without talking to us. That’s what’s so mind-blowing about it,” High said.

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