POTTSTOWN PA – Heeding a recommendation made earlier this year by its Community Budget Task Force, the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors gave the school district its blessing Tuesday (June 14, 2011) to get into the online education business.

Pottsgrove and several other districts, beginning this fall, will partner with the Chester County Intermediate Unit to join its Brandywine Virtual Academy. The so-called cyber school, which Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis said is in its eighth year of operation, will present a Pottsgrove-”branded” portal to its students, and offer courses that meet district standards for graduation.

Cyber-schools are the new, web-accessible – and to families who choose them, exciting – face of education, Landis acknowledged. They allow students to take courses at home, using computers and other devices, and conveniently complete their education without setting a book bag inside a locker.

Make no mistake, though; beyond learning, Pottsgrove’s partnership with Brandywine is also all about money.

The district has been losing about $11,000 per year for every child who has enrolled in an alternative, and usually privately run, cyber-charter school. State law requires Pottsgrove to pay enrollees’ tuition; during the last school year the cost amounted to more than $1 million. “And we’ve got no choice and no control in the matter,” Landis noted.

Reclaiming those “lost” funds was among several suggestions offered in recent months by the task force charged by directors to help Pottsgrove both reduce budgeted expenses and attract new revenue.

The likelihood that Pottsgrove can bring back to its cyber school those who have already moved to competitors is, at best, slim, Landis reported. Chances are good, however, that a Pottsgrove cyber school can keep others attracted by the option within the district fold. When that happens, according to the superintendent, Pottsgrove’s costs drop by $7,000 per new enrollee.

Brandywine has no minimum enrollment quota or up-front costs, Landis told board members, so the district wins if only one student signs up. “If we can get 10, I’d consider that real success,” he added.

Cyber school students will have real-time online access to teachers in all subject areas. The school itself operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., giving students more flexibility in their studies. It even provides an online nurse and guidance counselor. Those types of features are both appealing and marketable, and the district agreement with Brandywine includes marketing assistance.

“We want to get our feet wet first,” Landis said of experimenting with the cyber school. What he envisions for the future, on the other hand, extends far beyond simply winning back digitally enticed parents and their children. He describe for board members the potential of using the Pottsgrove portal for educational credit recovery, home-bound learning for the ill, adult education, and a “hybrid model” that blends online and classroom teaching.

Brandywine Virtual Academy is headquartered in Exton.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ June 14 meeting):

• ‘Cyber School, Here We Come,’ Pottsgrove Proclaims
• Budget-Motivated Pottsgrove Admin Changes Approved
• Pottsgrove OKs Personnel Items Affecting 55 Positions
• Plan To Further Cut Pottsgrove Tax Hike Dies In Tie

Related (to the Pottsgrove School District 2011-2012 budget):

• ‘Cyber School, Here We Come,’ Pottsgrove Proclaims
• Budget-Motivated Pottsgrove Admin Changes Approved
• Plan To Further Cut Pottsgrove Tax Hike Dies In Tie
• Pottsgrove Cuts Admin Job Among Leadership Changes
• Pottsgrove Plans For Re-Assignments A Budget-Saver?
• Teamsters Agree, Too, On Wage Freeze For Pottsgrove
• Does Pottsgrove Have An Administrative Cut-In-Waiting?
• Red And Yellow Items Left On Pottsgrove Budget Table
• Pottsgrove OKs 2.8% Tax Hike In Tentative Budget
• Local School Boards Face Both Cuts And Policy Changes
• Pottsgrove Chinese Language Students Face Cuts Again
• Pottsgrove Task Force Didn’t Shelve Pay-To-Play Plan
• Committee: Charter School May Save Pottsgrove $70K
• Pottsgrove Paying $28K Next Year For MCIU Support
• Secretary Says Schools Must Find Funds Themselves
• College Students Protest Proposed Ed Budget Cuts
• Pay Freeze Endorsed As Pottsgrove Labor Talks Start
• Pottsgrove High Protesters Exercise Art Of Compromise
• Pottsgrove’s Landis Distributes State Fund Comparison
• Pottsgrove Budget Deficit Balloons With Gov’s Proposal
• MCIU Budgets On Pottsgrove Schools Agenda Tonight
• PA House OKs ‘Cut And Replace’ On Education Funding
• Idea: Other Local Schools Consider Extracurricular Fees
• Idea: Pottsgrove Might Prosper With Own Charter School
• Pooling Resources Could Save Pottsgrove On Special Ed
• Like Pottsgrove Task Force, Outsiders Weigh Cost Vs. Value
• Task Force Crowd Packs Into Pottsgrove For First Session
• School Budget Task Force Kicks Off Its Work Tonight
• Does Western PA School Tax Uprising Foretell Mood Here?
• Pottsgrove Schools Budget Short Another $400,000
• Pottsgrove, As Expected, Adopts Budget First Draft
• Pottsgrove Tentative Budget Adoption Expected
• Weather Postpones Pottsgrove Budget Meeting
• Still Time In Pottsgrove For Budget Volunteers To Enlist
• Challenge To Pottsgrove Budget Advisers: 10 Percent
• Best Guesses, Deficit Launch Pottsgrove Budget Season
• Senate Education Chair Preps For Voucher, Choice Battle
• School Board Questions Pottsgrove Recreation Costs
• Pension Reform Vote Could Benefit Pottsgrove, Others
• Notebook Worthy: News Reporters Made News Tuesday
• Pottsgrove Isn’t Waiting In Search For Budget Volunteers
• If You’ve Got A Budget Idea, Pottsgrove Says It’ll Listen
• Pottsgrove Seeks More Public Input On District Budget