Over 850 students in the Magnolia School District will be continuing their education through virtual schooling during the 2020-2021 academic year, MSD Superintendent John Ward reported to the School Board Monday.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would have this many kids sign up for virtual school,” said Ward.
Ward said grades nine through 12 will be offered through Virtual Arkansas with their teachers and their curriculum, a distance learning supplemental education partner for public school districts across the state.
Kindergarten through eighth grade will be provided with the district’s teachers, said Ward. He explained that Eastside would be designating teachers for each grade level, assigned directly to the virtual and in-classroom students, with teachers assigned to either one learning model or the other.
At Central, t h e teachers will be responsible for their whole class roster, which
will include both in-person and virtual students. Ward said that if a student at Central decides to go from the virtual classroom to attending classes on campus, they will retain the same t e a c h e r. This will k e e p them at the same pace and the same curriculum with how the
other students are learning, said Ward.
“Something we are going to have to keep a close eye on is our food services,” said Ward. He explained that out of the 850 virtual classroom students, 72% are provided free or reduced lunches. The reimbursable rate for these students to eat breakfast and lunch at the school is $5.63 a day. Ward stated that it would translate to around $3,400 a day in lost revenue that the school will not see in its cafeteria because the students are not eating on site. He explained that it would translate to around $68,000 in lost revenue a month.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to continue to provide meals for these kids,” said Ward. He said that the registration process this year will have a question for parents asking if their students will continue with meals.
Ward said that the district will use the third-grade kitchen to provide the meals and the students will be able to pick the meals up from there. He said that the school may change to where they will give meals out for multiple days, with two days of meals given on Monday and three days of meals given on Wednesday.
More information on the school’s re-entry plan is listed on the Magnolia School District’s website underneath the Live Feed section.