Divided State Board of Education approves virtual charter school's expansion

One of North Carolina’s virtual charter schools will be allowed to expand again, following a divided vote from the State Board of Education.

North Carolina Virtual Academy will expand from the 2,592 students allowed by legislation to 3,100 students — a number lower than the 3,425 students the school over-enrolled for this year. The school enrolls 2,848 students, as of February.

The increase “would empower our school and staff to provide resources and support to more students and families across the state North Carolina,” the school wrote in its request to the board. The school noted its “dedication to expanding educational choice through innovative and technology rich instructional practices,” as well as a rise in its graduation rate to 81.5% last year, though below the state average of 87%.

North Carolina Virtual Academy and North Carolina Cyber Academy remain in pilot status, under state law, after nearly a decade of operating.

They have continually scored as “low-performing,” something Democrats on the board and in the state legislature have argued indicates they deserve more scrutiny rather than continued expansion. Republican lawmakers have argued families still want their students to attend them and that the schools can’t be judged like normal schools because they have an ever-changing student population.

The school reported nearly 3,000 students on the waitlist for this school year. That number could include people who also applied to other schools.

The virtual charter schools are not subject to a review of their academic performance in a renewal application the way charter schools normally are because of their pilot status; they don’t need to apply for renewal. But as low-performing schools, they must form turnaround plans.

The State Board of Education did not debate the proposal Thursday before voting 5-4 to approve allowing the schools to expand, though Board Vice Chairman Alan Duncan noted that the schools are continually low-performing.

“I just can’t support this,” he said.

Board members Amy White, Olivia Oxendine, Reginald Kenan, Treasurer Dale Folwell and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson voted in favor of the enrollment expansion. Duncan and board members Jill Camnitz, James Ford and Eric Davis voted against it.

Board members Wendell Hall, Donna Tipton-Rogers and James Blackburn were absent.