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NC House sends 'remote academies' bill to Senate

The North Carolina House has approved a bill that outlines requirements for "remote academies" operating next year and beyond, including an evaluation of whether they are working.

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Wake County holds first day of virtual academy
By
Emily Walkenhorst
, WRAL education reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina House approved a bill Thursday that outlines new requirements for “remote academies” as virtual learning, accelerated by pandemic school closures, gains wider acceptance.

The bill, which would affect schools operating next year and beyond—including an evaluation of whether they are working—comes as critics question the quality of education provided by the schools.

The bill also seeks to remove two of the state’s virtual charter schools from pilot program status and extend their charters five more years. Those schools have been criticized for comparatively poor academic performance.

The Senate will now take up Senate Bill 671. The version that originated in the Senate didn’t include any provisions on remote learning.

The House passed the bill on its third reading Thursday, 73-22.

The bill likely wouldn’t impact existing virtual academies much, said Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes. The school systems that applied to open virtual academies last year as standalone schools would likely not need to change much, he said.

Lawmakers expressed philosophical opinions on the nature of virtual schools and how quickly the legislature is pushing the bill forward.

Those opposed to the bill said they needed more clarity, thought the bill was rushed without the ability to thoroughly research it, or believed in-person instruction was more effective than remote learning.

Those in favor of the bill said they wanted to provide more options for students who may prefer a virtual school environment.

“We’ve got to have opportunities for students to learn in a way that fits their situation best,” said Rep. David Willis, R-Union.

The performance of the state’s two current virtual charter schools — North Carolina Cyber Academy and North Carolina Virtual Academy — is below average, according to a report submitted to the General Assembly in 2020, in test scores and in student growth.

The Office of Charter Schools and various education boards typically review charter school performance and financial viability and determine whether a charter school can renew its charter based on those reviews.

When remote learning spread widely as the pandemic closed schools during the 2020-21 school year, test scores statewide plummeted lower than usual by the end of the year.

“We do need to develop remote learning,” said Rep. Jay Adams, R-Catawba. “We didn’t have time to develop it properly during the pandemic but that doesn’t mean we should let it go.”

Other House members say it’s obvious virtual schools don’t work as well as in-person instruction. “The idea of establishing this permanently, this quickly, troubles me,” said Rep. Abe Jones, D-Wake.

The poor academic performance during the pandemic raised concernes for Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus.

“This needs a lot more consideration than what we can do today on it,” Pittman said.

State law passed last year prohibits virtual academies beyond the 2021-22 school year that are not standalone schools. That will shut down the Wake County Public School System’s virtual academy system, in which each school had its own virtual academy option. Families of children medically vulnerable to severe COVID-19 symptoms have wanted to keep the option.

Operating a remote or virtual academy as a standalone school means state funding would be distributed to them based on their enrollment, not based on an allocation exclusively determined at the district level.

The bill requires parental permission for students to participate in “remote academies,” continuing to keep the structured type of remote learning students did during the pandemic school closures impossible. A bill last year already prohibited remote learning mandates unless staffing was insufficient to have school or too many students had to quarantine.

The bill also limits enrollment in the academies to no more than 15% of students in a school system.

The bill would also:

  • Allow schools to reassign remote academy students to in-person school if administration believes the student will be more successful there, something many schools were already practicing. However, the school wouldn’t be allowed to deny a student enrollment in a remote academy based solely on the student having a disability under the Individual with Disabilities in Education Act.
  • Require remote academies to meet many of the same state regulations, including class size requirements and educator licensure requirements.
  • Require remote academies to provide students with hardware and software to attend and ensure they have access to the internet at all times, as well as provide technical support.
  • Require annual performance evaluations of remote academies.
  • Senate approves domestic violence bill

In other legislative action Thursday, the Senate unanimously approved a measure to strengthen domestic violence protections in the state.

If the House approves the House Bill 615 and Gov. Roy Cooper signs it, judges in the state would be allowed to temporarily renew a domestic violence protective order to fill the gap in time between an order’s expiration and a forthcoming court hearing.

State Sen. David Craven, a Randolph County Republican who introduced the proposal earlier this week, on Thursday also advanced a minor tweak that notifies parties involved in the protective order process.

The bill and amendment passed with little discussion. Craven said the latest version of the bill is supported by the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association and state Conference of District Attorneys.

WRAL State Government Reporter Bryan Anderson contributed to this article.  

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