toledoblade.com --

Some Ohio public school districts - locked in a heated tug-of-war for students with charter schools, home school, and work options - are hoping to yank students back with an online rope.

Perrysburg and Lima schools are among more than 40 districts across Ohio operating "digital academies" that teach students at home using computer software and online interaction with instructors.

Springfield, Maumee, Sylvania, Oregon, Tiffin, and Findlay schools, along with dozens of other districts around the state, are planning to set up similar virtual schools.

"There are school districts in Ohio losing large numbers of kids to charter schools. School districts see digital academies as a way of competing with all the charter schools out there," said Mike Carder, executive director of the Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association, a nonprofit consortium of public school districts that has established digital academies for dozens of districts statewide.

Michigan law does not allow schools to operate exclusively over the Internet, but more than 300 high schools statewide offer some online classes, school officials said. Many schools expand their class offerings by having advanced placement courses and other electives online.

In Ohio, virtual schools are established as "community schools," and also are known as charter schools. These schools are held to state standards and testing requirements, but are separate from a school district. Community schools must be sponsored by an existing organization, such as a school district, a university, or a county's educational service center.

There are a half-dozen statewide virtual schools for students who want to work from their homes. The University of Toledo sponsors the Ohio Virtual Academy, which enrolls 1,700 students statewide. The Lucas County Educational Service Center sponsors the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow virtual school, known as eCot, which enrolls 4,500 students throughout Ohio.

Funding follows student

State funding follows students when they transfer to a different district or community school. This year, the state is paying community schools $5,058 per student. School districts also receive state funding on a per-student basis. The amount varies by district, depending on local property values and other factors.

"These virtual schools are drawing millions and millions of state dollars out of public school districts," said Scott Ebright, spokesman for the Ohio School Board Association.

School districts that sponsor digital academies recoup some state money paid to their academies by charging for use of the district's equipment, space, and staff.

"If students join our digital academy, we're holding on to our state money," said Troy Armstrong, the technology and curriculum director for Springfield Local Schools. The district plans to start a digital academy next school year.

"We presently have students who leave the district to attend digital academies," Mr. Armstrong said. "When students leave our district, we're sending money out to other schools."

Districts are eligible to receive $50,000 from the state and $150,000 in federal funds to start digital academies. For Perrysburg schools, these funds allowed them to expand their kindergartens to all-day programs that incorporate online lessons, Shawn Deitemeyer, coordinator of the Perrysburg Digital Academy, said.

Perrysburg academy

Perrysburg Digital Academy began operation at the start of this school year. In addition to 40 kindergartners who take online classes in Perrysburg's elementary buildings, 26 high school students, two junior high students, and two elementary students take online classes from home.

"We really had a lot of people who wanted to enroll, but now the students realize this is hard and it isn't a shortcut," Mr. Deitemeyer said.

In the Perrysburg Digital Academy, students progress through lessons at their own pace. They cannot move on to a new lesson until they have scored well on tests for the current material. The lessons are presented online, and students can communicate with teachers and other students through e-mail, instant messaging, and programs that allow them to speak over the Internet.

Mark Waggoner, a 17-year-old Perrysburg junior, said he has enjoyed taking most of his classes through the Perrysburg Digital Academy this year. He said he has attention deficit disorder; so he had trouble learning with the traditional classroom setting because he would get distracted during lectures and frequently lose his homework.

"At school it feels like they just hand you a bunch of information. Online, you're able to take as much time as you need to understand the material," Mark said.

His father, Tom Waggoner, said the digital academy helps keep Mark organized and appeals to his interest in computers. Mr. Waggoner can use the computer to see how much time his son spent on lessons.

"It's a disciplined approach," Mr. Waggoner said. "As a parent, you can check every day to see interaction with teachers. There are control mechanisms in place to make sure students are doing the work."

Some students joined Perrysburg Digital Academy because they had health problems or concerns about their social interactions at school, Mr. Deitemeyer said.

Help from Tri-Rivers

The Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association helped set up the Perrysburg Digital Academy. The association trains instructors to teach online, provides equipment and computer programs, and gradually turns over control of the digital academies to sponsoring school districts.

The group charges school districts $2,500 per student for kindergarten through eighth graders, and $3,500 for each high schooler enrolled in the digital academy.

Mr. Carder, head of the Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association, said students who lack motivation will not automatically improve in a digital environment. The association recommends returning students to the traditional classroom if they do not do well in their first few months online.

"It takes a lot of self-paced discipline," Mr. Carder said. "Online education is not for all students, and it's not for all teachers. I think it will take a few years until parents and teachers realize what environment is best for each student."

Students are attracted to digital academies for many reasons, Mr. Carder said. Some want to take more advanced classes and move through material quickly, and others want more time to work and earn money for college.

Toledo Public Schools sponsor three charter schools. Each uses an online curriculum to target students in specific situations. The Phoenix Academy is for students who have dropped out or are planning to leave school. Brigadoon Academy enrolls students who were chronically expelled, suspended, or truant, and the Polly Fox Academy is for pregnant or parenting teens.

New academies

New digital academies are in the works for several northwest Ohio districts. Most area districts, including Sylvania schools, are working with Tri-Rivers Educational to set up virtual schools.

"We look at the digital academy as an outreach program for students who may or may not currently be attending our schools," said Dallas Jackson, Sylvania's assistant superintendent. "The academy gives the district an opportunity to have some control over the curriculum and the type of education these kids receive."

Findlay city schools decided last week to move forward with creating a digital academy for high schoolers next school year. It will be geared toward students who have had behavioral problems in the classroom.

About 50 students are expected to enroll, Findlay superintendent Robert Lotz said. Most of the students likely will have had discipline issues in the past, he said, but some may simply prefer learning at home. In order to keep digital academy students on task, the school will require them to meet with a teacher in person at least once a week.

"The advantage of having a digital academy is really not for the district. It's for the students in the community," Mr. Lotz said. "We have to look for alternatives to help students learn."

Michigan takes a different approach to online learning. State law limits the number of classes that public schools students can take online, so there are no virtual charter schools as in Ohio. However, online learning is incorporated into traditional school settings.

Hundreds of high schools all over the state work with the Michigan Virtual High School, a nonprofit organization established by the state legislature in 2000. The group sells online curriculum materials and offers courses to teach instructors about online learning.

More than 9,000 Michigan students are taking online classes this school year, said Michelle Lavra, communications coordinator for the Michigan Virtual High School.

"In Michigan, there's a feeling that there is a lot of value to being in the classroom. Online learning is not going to replace that," Ms. Lavra said.

Several educators in Ohio said that combining traditional classrooms and online courses can be a good approach, but learning online from home works best for some students.

"Not a day goes by when I don't get a call from a superintendent asking about online schools," Mr. Carder said. "Virtual environments do work, and they are here to stay."

Contact Rachel Zinn at: rzinn@theblade.com or 419-410-5055.

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