Cyber school's flexibility and support help West Tarentum boy thrive

Brook Stitt is keeping a close eye on the state budget vote this year.

The West Tarentum mother is concerned about a proposal to limit per-student payments to Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools. The bill, which also calls for changes to how cyber charters operate, narrowly passed the state House last week. It’s off to the Senate now.

Stitt’s son, Grant, 10, is a rising fifth grader at Agora Cyber Charter School, an online school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Like all public schools, its tuition is paid for by taxpayers.

Grant suffers from multiple health issues that include extensive gastrointestinal issues and a compromised immune system. But Stitt said her son has thrived academically because of the flexibility offered by virtual instruction.

“It’s not sitting and watching a video,” she said. “It runs just like a brick-and-mortar school. It’s just on the computer. That has allowed Grant to pop onto class while in the hospital or at his doctor’s office.

“Why shouldn’t tax dollars go to my kid’s education? We have the right to choose how our kids learn.”

As the state’s June 30 budget deadline looms, key battles are happening over the public school funding system that was developed in 2002. Of the state’s 500 public schools, 94% have passed resolutions calling for cyber charter reform.

The legislation under consideration calls for a flat cyber charter tuition rate of $8,000 for regular-education students. Special-education tuition could exceed that.

There currently is no cap for the districts’ payments to cyber charter schools.

Agora CEO Rich Jensen said the cuts would be devastating for his and the 13 other cyber charters across the state.

“If we went with the flat $8,000 per student, it would mean a loss of about $40 million of our operating budget — nearly 40%,” Jensen said.

Agora’s budget this year is about $103 million. The school serves 4,800 students. Jensen said about 85% of the budget pays for state-certified teachers, counselors, a family coach and nurses.

Proposed tuition caps would mean increased class sizes, limits to personalized services and perhaps an adjustment to the family coach liaison who conducts family wellness checks.

“All of these things are not good for kids, and I’m passionate about fighting against them,” Jensen said. “I’m not sure how a lot of the cyber schools would be able to operate if the proposed cuts go through. That’s how drastic it would be.”

Under the proposed legislation, cyber charter schools would not be able to maintain cash balances above 12% of their spending. The bill also would boost disclosure requirements on policies, instructional materials and budgets.

In addition, there would be no new cyber charters approved by the state for at least five years.

Jensen said the proposal follows Gov. Josh Shapiro’s state budget for the fiscal year that’s about to end, which delivered an initial blow to cyber charter funding. Cuts were phased in midyear and schools have just begun to work through them, Jensen said.

“We took a funding cut that equaled nearly 10% of our overall revenue,” he said. “We had to build a budget knowing we would take a $9 million cut, but we haven’t been able to see yet how we can operate with that. We need time to see how much that will hurt.”

He said Agora’s books are open to any legislators who want to see them.

“We understand cyber charters may not be the best fit for everyone, but they should be a choice for anyone,” he said.

For Stitt, the synchronous classroom model at Agora supports her son’s academic needs.

“He’s able to log on, and his teacher is there and his classmates,” Stitt said. “He gets the interaction. It’s not pretaped.”

She said Grant enjoys the school’s project-based learning and is reading at an advanced sixth-grade level. Once a month, he can socialize with peers in person at Agora’s Day Out, which has included outings to the National Aviary and Kennywood.

State standardized tests also are taken in-person in Monroeville and Green Tree.

“For us, it’s nice because Grant gets speech and occupational therapy provided by the school,” Stitt said. “And instead of us having to pull him out of class for the drive to the hospital twice a week, he can do it virtually.

“The school districts get upset they have to share the funding. But it’s not a private school, so the taxes should be shared.”