Clovis Unified considers creating an online charter.
Clovis Unified -- which has built a statewide reputation with high-performing schools and strict rules for dress and behavior -- may pursue a dramatic departure from tradition: a high school where students take classes entirely online.
An online charter high school would be a radically new direction for the Clovis Unified School District, but educators say an increasing number of students are interested in getting their education through the Internet. Students -- and parents -- are seeking alternatives to the traditional school setting, whether it's through online classes, independent study or charter schools.
Enrollment dipped this school year for the first time in Clovis Unified's 48-year history -- by about 100 students -- and cost the district attendance money from the state. Trying to track down the missing students, the district learned that 255 of its pupils are attending Sierra Charter School, which offers independent study and once-a-week meetings with teachers.
Officials at Sierra said they've had steady growth, drawing equally from the Fresno and Clovis unified school districts. Principal Lisa Marasco said students and parents are "looking for alternatives." The school has offices near Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
Clovis Unified has been forced to look at different ways of educating students -- such as an online high school -- because they're losing students, said Dwayne Stewart, assessment/technology director for Sierra Charter School.
"Clovis Unified sees there's a need out there. They're coming up with a new product to offer," Stewart said.
The Clovis Unified board approved a charter proposal last month, paving the way for the district to seek a $250,000 planning grant from the state Department of Education. The online charter high school could be up and running in fall 2009. The plan must first land state approval and undergo more district scrutiny.
The state gives charter schools more flexibility in how they operate as a way of encouraging innovation in public education. As a charter school, Clovis Unified's online high school could recruit students from neighboring districts as well.
The number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who have taken online classes has soared from an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 in 2001 to 700,000 in 2005, according to the Washington Policy Center in Seattle, which assessed online learning in a March report. It's still a small fraction of the millions of children attending traditional schools in America.
The surge is fueled by concerns about the quality of public education, an increase in online course choices and students' affinity for the Internet, said Liv Finne, education director for the policy center.
"The kids are driving this," Finne said. "I think that's the way of the future."
An online charter school run by a district in Tehama County near Mount Lassen has proved so popular it has a waiting list.
Young people have become so used to high-speed computer technology that "they walk into a typical school and ... it feels like a dial-up modem," said Harold Vietti, executive director of the eScholar Academy, based in Red Bluff.
Clovis Unified spokeswoman Kelly Avants said the district has been experimenting with online classes for several years and would be considering an online high school even if enrollment had not dropped.
"If we sit on our hands and don't pay attention to trends in education, we could be in a different place in a few years," Avants said.
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Study on online education by the Washington Policy Center
eScholar Academy, an online program based in Red Bluff
