Oak Creek School Board Votes To Keep Virtual Option In 2022-23

OAK CREEK, WI — The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education voted to maintain a virtual learning option for families through the 2022-2023 school year at its meeting Monday, the district reported in a newsletter.

The district developed OC Virtual for the 2020-2021 school year—when the pandemic first started—to provide an alternative to in-person learning, but as the 2022-23 school year approaches, a desire has remained among some families to continue virtual learning, according to a report to the school board.

Those families may leave the district without a virtual option, the report to the board reads.

The option has served families not only because of the pandemic, but also students who have sensory or social interaction challenges, students who wanted to independently accelerate their learning, and students who have moved outside of the district but still hope to maintain education in the district, the report said.

School districts across Wisconsin were given a waiver to allow open enrolled students to use virtual options in the district of their choosing, but information about if that waiver will be in place in the 2022-23 school year is still pending, the report said.

The costs to maintain OC Virtual through the next school year could amount to about $500,000, which will be claimed under ESSER III, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant program, according to the report to the board.