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ECISD in 2011: A year of budget woes and highs and lows
January 1, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
That included elimination of 35 positions as part of “program adjustments,” which would affect the Virtual High School, the district’s truancy program, Channel 10, ECISD Police, Communities in Schools, as well as “extra” clerk positions.
In addition, 13 full-time employees were cut from central administration, while nine positions opened by attrition was not filled.
A list of employees cut was obtained by Odessa American through an open records request, showed two of 60 employees that were named, executive director of athletics Leon Fuller and executive director of special projects Randy Talley, made more than $100,000 a year. Meanwhile, nine clerks at magnet schools, who make between $13,739 and $22,399 annually, had their positions cut.
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10 Parents Respond to the New York Times
December 26, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment
Jen said, “My son attends Texas Virtual Academy at Southwest – only he couldn’t start on time this year. He had open heart surgery on August 23rd, the first day of school. His surgery was 8 hours, and he was in the hospital three weeks. The surgeons wanted us to “keep him out of school” for another two months after that – when we explained about K12, that we would be able to pace him, that it would not be physically taxing, they gave us approval to start as soon as he was ready. He chose to return the week he was out of the hospital. His teacher was aware of everything, helped us get him back in a groove, and instead of missing the three weeks of school he was able to start from the first day of school 3 weeks late – without K12, I have no doubt his 8th Grade Year would have potentially been down the drain. Because of K12, he was able to ease back into his normal life at his own pace, with the support of his parents and the school – and most especially his teacher. I wish they would profile some of us for a change.”
Jody said, “It’s nice to have options! I have a wonderful sixteen year old son who is very creative & intelligent. He is bored to death in school. We have so much stimulation in the world today. We ask our kids to sit in a chair for hours, non stimulated. Our local public school system is on the cutting edge. But, it’s not changing fast enough for him. K12 allows him time to do other things. He already is a budding entrepreneur and has a YouTube sight with 5,000 hits. We are grateful for this outside of the box option.”
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Virtual High School offers students choice, flexibility
December 3, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment
Housed within Spring Branch ISD’s Academy of Choice are classrooms without walls, learning spaces where time management skills and analytical skills take on equal importance.
The Virtual High School offers Spring Branch high school students free access to locally developed online courses, and into a statewide network of courses that are available for a fee.
The idea is to provide students the flexibility for “any time, any place” learning, and access to courses that might not fit into a student’s daily schedule, or might not be offered in a particular semester — or at a particular campus.
“It’s all about opportunity and choice,” said Joyce Roberta Miller-Alper, a longtime teacher in Spring Branch ISD and a former Texas teacher of the year.
Courses are designed with the same rigor as traditional courses without the traditional classroom parameters. There is still material to be read, research to be conducted and assignments to be completed and graded.
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