'This isn't just a school.' Parents rally behind online charter school amid proposed in-person rule changes

Rosalind Azamar made what she believes is the best educational choice for two of her children. She says after experiencing misery at brick-and-mortar schools in Tulsa, they’re thriving at Insight School of Oklahoma, which touts itself as the state’s only alternative virtual charter school recognized by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

“Ryan Walters is always talking about parents’ rights,” Azamar said about Oklahoma’s state schools superintendent. “We have the right to choose what’s best for our child, but I almost feel like if we don’t agree with what his (opinion is), are our rights taken away? My child’s path is different than another’s, but it’s the right path for us. We all want our kids to enjoy success and live up to their full potential. That’s what it should be about ― the kids.”

Azamar and other parents of ISOK students fear their choice could be taken away soon by the state Board of Education, of which Walters is the chairman. There will be a public hearing Wednesday on proposed rule changes by the state Education Department that ISOK officials say would effectively shut down the public, tuition-free school, which has an enrollment of about 1,150 students across the state.

Why would the rule changes shut down Insight School of Oklahoma? A requirement for in-person instruction

After the hearing, the state board would have to vote to approve the rule changes for them to take effect. The board’s next meeting is set for Nov. 30. According to a rule impact statement posted on the department’s website, the purpose of the proposed change “is to update the alternative education rules in order to improve the quality of alternative education, comply with best practices for alternative education, and comply with 2019 updates to the governing statute that the State Department of Education has not previously addressed in rules.”

One of the proposed rule changes would require students to be “physically present, in person, and on-site in the alternative education program for a minimum of 4 hours and 12 minutes a day or 756 hours in a 165-day calendar.” Another proposed change would require a certified teacher to be “physically present, in-person, and be present in the Alt Ed classroom for all program hours identified in the alternative education plan.”

More: What to know about four new potential charter schools in Oklahoma City

"This school chose to hire an outside PR firm to influence the press rather than focus on the compliance issues that influence its ability to continue to serve students," said Dan Isett, a state Education Department spokesman. "That is deeply concerning for the future of that school. Superintendent Walters is deeply committed to ensuring parents and students have high-quality educational options available to them, and we encourage this school to be part of the solution.

Isett did not provide any specifics about the "compliance issues" or other details about what the state Education Department found lacking in ISOK's performance.

ISOK, which started in 2014, maintains an office in a strip mall in eastern Midwest City. ISOK’s head of school, Jennifer Wilkinson, said ISOK graduates about 200 students annually and holds an in-person ceremony (this year’s was at First Baptist Church in Edmond) that’s also live-streamed. The majority of ISOK’s students come from the Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Lawton metropolitan areas, but at some point, Wilkinson said, there have been students from all 77 Oklahoma counties.

“What we’ve done is take the virtual educational setting and we’ve implemented the alternative education components,” Wilkinson said. “We have very much a personalized graduation plan for every student because we know that our students have not found success in the school setting.”

Insight School of Oklahoma has 'been a game-changer,' families say

Supporters of ISOK say they feel blindsided by the proposed rule changes. Wilkinson said she knew “there were some concerns with the virtual component, but I have not been aware of any organized rulemaking.” She said the concerns showed the law hasn’t caught up “to the best practice and the new educational environment. Virtual education was growing prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic did offer some families some choices that they might not have understood until then. Insight always has had this mission to serve students in a more unique manner.”

At the center of the discussion is the question of whether virtual schools are capable of successfully providing elements of alternative education. Parents like Azamar would argue they already are.

Azamar has one child currently attending a brick-and-mortar school but said two of her younger children — who both are on an Individualized Educational Plan, or IEP — needed an alternative. In a traditional education setting, her 15-year-old experienced severe bullying and her 13-year-old had difficulty making the adjustment from elementary school into junior high.

“My 15-year-old had completely shut down,” Azamar said. “She didn’t want to do it anymore. When I would drop her off (at school), I would cry because I knew what I was dropping her off into. She would physically get ill.”

More: Oklahoma virtual charter school says proposed rule changes could shut it down completely

ISOK says it serves students in unique situations, including teen parents, students recovering from addiction, students who have been expelled from other schools, students with special needs and students with jobs who require flexible schedules. Azamar found ISOK during an online search and said its programs, and the method through which its services are delivered, are just what her children needed.

“It’s been a game-changer for them,” she said. “Last year, one of them had an F in every class except orchestra. This year, just since August, she has two As, a B and two high Cs. The turnaround has been huge. The other one, it took her a bit longer, because she was in such a bad place when we started. She is doing amazing now, with two As and a B.

“In the end, we did what we needed to do, and the path we’re on now is just amazing. It’s a night-and-day difference. The extra help they get, if they need it, it’s not a big deal. If a student doesn’t understand, they can stay after class and get help.”

Like Azamar, Wendy Crossmock of Del City found ISOK after searching for alternatives for her daughter, who had struggled with panic attacks and slipping grades while attending a traditional school. Her daughter started attending ISOK as a high school sophomore and it “was the lifeline she needed,” Crossmock said.

“Witnessing her thrive academically and emotionally has been my greatest joy as a parent,” Crossmock said. “Now, the proposed rule … threatens to disrupt this success story. The in-person component mandated by this rule puts the very existence of ISOK at risk. For my daughter and countless others, this isn't just a school — it's a sanctuary that has rekindled their love for learning and given them the tools to succeed.”

Robert Franklin, the chairman of the Statewide Virtual School Charter Board — which provides an extra layer of oversight to ISOK — sent a letter to Walters, also arguing against the proposed rule changes. Franklin said requiring scripted physical presence of students and teachers has proven to be unsuccessful for some students in an alternative education setting.

“Therefore, amending state rule language which funnels virtual alternative education students back to a more traditional education setting seems contrary to the success that hundreds of students and their families have experienced,” Franklin said. “These proposed rule changes would essentially throttle such learning choices.”

Franklin said the proposed changes also directly conflict with the mission of his state board “to support education choice through online learning opportunities, and such rule changes would also inhibit statutory requirement to offer priority to opening schools that serve at-risk student populations.” He said the 2019 law mentioned in the Education Department’s Rule Impact Statement “remained silent on virtual or online learning versus in-person education” and that puts the proposed changes “not in congruence” with more recently adopted charter school laws.

Wilkinson said Oklahoma is one of 10 states that have moved into the world of alternative online education and that “it would be sad to see us take steps back” because ISOK is “very much a last option for some of our students. We will work with any student who finds themselves at our door. We want to continue to ensure that our students maintain hope toward graduation.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Parents rally behind Insight School of Oklahoma amid rule changes