Virtual option extended for Marietta elementary schoolers

Thomas Hartwell, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·2 min read

Sep. 22—Marietta school district students in grades 1-5 will be allowed to continue attending school virtually, if they so choose, after an extension of the virtual option through December was approved by the school board on Tuesday.

The school board previously approved the virtual school program for the first nine weeks of the school year for students in those grades, and Superintendent Grant Rivera said more data will be collected and a recommendation brought forward in coming months to determine whether the program will be offered again next semester.

No kindergarten families asked for the virtual option when it was in planning, he said.

The elementary school virtual program has 121 students and has seen an attendance rate of 95%, according to a district presentation. The presentation also shows the number of students from each elementary school in virtual class:

—Hickory Hills: 3

—Marietta Center for Advanced Academics: 6

—West Side: 9

—Park Street: 14

—Sawyer Road: 14

—Burruss: 15

—Lockheed: 30

—Dunleith: 31

The district's total enrollment in virtual class this semester, for grades 1-12, is 368 students. The board approved a virtual offering for grades 6-12 for the entire semester, and Rivera said that offering will be reevaluated at the end of the semester as well.

In other business, the school board approved:

—Purchase of up to $784,000 worth of Chromebook laptops and logistical services from Trafera, LLC for the 2021-22 school year;

—Purchase of $23,770 worth of licenses for supplemental math and reading programs from Educational Learning Systems for Marietta Sixth Grade Academy;

—A $16,575 System 44 and Read 180 Literacy reading program with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for third, fourth and fifth grade students at Lockheed Elementary School;

—Contracting for $38,800 with a retired community strategist to increase graduation rates in the district; and

—Approval of Mitchell Metals for the installation of a canopy over a new sidewalk at Marietta Middle School at a cost of $16,248.

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