Wednesday, August 26, 2009

When is a School a School?

Students at an alternative school in Aurora are attending classes, but have recently been told they won't be getting any credit fot attending the school. When a school looks like a school and purports to be a school, isn't it a school?

There needs to be some authorization for classes to earn credits or a diploma to be meaningful. This means if the school isn't a district school, parents should ask how the school is accredited.

In the case of New Directions Prep in Aurora, school leaders believed they had a contract to operate under the auspices of Vilas Online. Vilas Online is the online program out of the Vilas School District on the southeast border of the state and the district that previously authorized Hope Online. Hope had established contracts with "learning centers" throughout the state.

In order for New Directions to operate through the Aurora School District the school would need to go through an online certification process at the Colorado Department of Education. This online certification was required in new legislation a couple of years ago as a method to regulate online schools such as Hope Online, which was highlighted in a state auditor's report.

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