| Updated: 5/11/2011 2:55 am |
Published: 5/10/2011 5:29 pm
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School is going virtual in Sand Springs and there may be an influx of Tulsa students headed into that district because of Project Schoolhouse.
FOX23's Jamie Oberg tells us about that and the Sand Springs district opening its options, online.
Letters from Tulsa public schools are going out Tuesday night and Wednesday morning; telling parents if they have to send their child to a new school.
While reporting on project schoolhouse many parents we talked to worried they would lose out on the community school feeling with closures and consolidations.
Some parents called smaller school districts like Sand Springs to see what they had to offer.
"It’s not a money saving opportunity, it's not a money making opportunity it's the right thing to do for kids,” Sand Springs Assistant Superintendent Lori Kerns said.
Assistant superintendent Lori Kerns knows all about the problems with public school funding.
"Public schools are challenged to find every avenue possible to help students whether that be virtual school or the push for some charter schools." She understands the reasoning behind Tulsa’s Project Schoolhouse consolidation and closures. "I think we have to be open minded and flexible in how we teach children,” she said.
Tulsa already has a virtual school and now Sand Springs is opening one too.
"Virtual curriculum allows you the opportunity to grow and expand that master schedule and offer more courses than maybe you wouldn't traditionally be able to offer,” Kerns said.
Smaller school districts like Sand Springs got a rush of phone calls because of Tulsa’s Project Schoolhouse plan.
"We have, we have. I think there was an initial panic when you think your community schools is closing. You start looking at other options,” Kerns said.
As sand springs opens up its options...its students will be able to go to class on-line full time or...they can get both the class time and virtual courses for free.
Kerns can’t be sure until next school year, just yet how many Tulsa families are willing to move to get out of TPS or if the phone calls were just initial panic.
"Hopefully that will work out with everyone in Tulsa,” she said. “They're welcome to enroll in our virtual school."
