Tumwater School District suspends its virtual academy. Here’s what happened
Carole Meyer, the interim superintendent for the Tumwater School District, said kids are finally returning to in-person learning after years of having virtual options.
As a result, the school board voted earlier this month to suspend its Virtual Academy, citing low enrollment numbers.
Meyer said the district projected having 256 students enrolled in the academy during the 2022-23 school year and ended up having 126. She said the costs of materials, the online platform and teachers’ salaries were no longer matching up with how many students were being served.
She said its teachers were transferred to different schools involuntarily at the beginning of the year. And now, at end of the school year, there are only 16 K-8 students enrolled in TVA. About 55 high school students moved to Cascadia High School’s online program at the Tumwater Learning Center throughout the year.
Meyer said the remaining four TVA teachers accepted other positions within the district, along with a full-time office professional and a half-time principal.
She said the district reached out by phone and email to the families of the 16 students, and they were offered several different virtual learning opportunities, including programs through Washington Virtual Academies. But most of them chose to return to in-person learning at their original school, Meyer said.
Meyer said she expects to see more families choosing to send their children back to in-person learning now that there’s been some time since the pandemic.
“It was a non-event, really,” Meyer said of closing the virtual academy. “All of those students are important to us, but we’re seeing that most of them are choosing to go back to in-person learning now.”
She said TVA isn’t closed for good, but more on a hiatus. She said if there’s ever a growing interest or another need for K-8 virtual learning, it will open back up. And the district will continue providing online classes for grades 9-12 through Cascadia.
