RALEIGH — Despite low performance scores, one of North Carolina’s two virtual charter schools has been given the go-ahead to break away from its for-profit management company. However, it’s expected to face regular audits from the state as it moves to become a locally operated online school.
In news that was first reported in the News and Observer, the State Board of Education voted this week to allow N.C. Connections Academy to no longer be under the management of Pearson Online and Blended Learning, an international education company.
Had the state board opted to deny the request, Connections faced imminent closure.
The school will now be renamed N.C. Cyber Academy, and it is understood that the virtual school will now hire several different vendors to provide services.
As part of the split, the board placed three conditions on the school:
- The school must provide any information requested by the Office of Charter Schools.
- A representative from the school must attend all meetings of the Charter Schools Advisory Board to give updates until further notice.
- The Charter Schools Advisory Board will provide quarterly updates on the school to the state board.
However, the question still remains: Will the program be able to survive without Pearson’s management?
“In the short term, it’s imperative that they account for their actions and their plan and that we also are educating ourselves because again this is a brand new management company in a very unique type of charter school situation obviously with 2,500 students,” Alex Quigley, chairman of the Charter Schools Advisory Board, was quoted as saying.
Connections Academy and N.C. Virtual Academy both opened in 2015 as part of a four-year pilot program ordered by lawmakers. But since then, both online schools have received D grades for their academic performance and are on the state’s list of “continually low-performing schools.”
Even so, the state extended the pilot program to 2023 and is considering lifting an enrollment cap to allow growth of up to 20 percent.
