001All right, I'll call the uh school board workshop to order and um Mr. Kiki, we will recognize you to give us the report. Well, good afternoon. Afternoon. Good afternoon. Appreciate you being here. Um as I told uh Mr. Larry earlier a few board meetings back there was a request for us to update the board on school choice and what we are doing to reach out to our families um and bring families back into our district. And so we're going to share some of that today. Our agenda um after I open um we are going to update you a little bit on Putinham Virtual School, our full-time school and then Putinham Flex and home education and talk about how we are um supporting some of our home education students. And then the third bullet will be
002PEP contracted services which is brand new. I'm going to um present that piece today and talk to you about what we are starting uh next week. Um, you know who I am. Uh, obviously today I have with me Mary Wood who's our administrator of school choice and also our principal of Putnham Virtual School. And then Bonnie Putman who is our facilitator of Putnham Virtual School. She acts as counselor, facilitator, supporter, cheerleader, all the things for our our full-time students and a lot of our flex students as well. So, at this time, I'm going to invite Bonnie up and we're going to start with Putinham Virtual School and she's going to talk to you a little bit about where we're at with Putinham Virtual School. Hello all. How are you? Um, I wanted to talk just
003briefly about um Putinham Virtual School. as you know, that is our flagship full-time K to2 public school in Putnham County. So, this is the one that um has been around um the longest and it's how our students can get a high school dipl high school diploma um going to virtual school. Um so you can see the numbers um 704 um is Putnham Virtual School and then this year we added um on 7,0003 which is part of that is our partnership with the Road He Boys Ranch. And so we've had a great time this year with these guys. Um you can see up on the screen in the bottom right hand corner is basically when we first initiated um this partnership and we went out and on site talked to um all the boys about what
004the expectations were, what um Putnham virtual school looked like. The cottage parents and staff were also on hand so they could ask questions as well. Um everybody was really excited about it. And then um once school had started um mid August or so, we had our open house and we did a specific open house for um the boys ranch and they came in. We went over um how the school year would kind of lay out and they got all their goodies and their Chromebooks and everything um um that day and it was it was really great. We took a picture as you can see in front of the school growing building building. So, oh, I wanted to before we went on from the boys ranch, I wanted to kind of um at the end of
005the school year, I sent out a congratulation boys kind of email to all the boys and their cottage parents and um the staff there. And I just wanted to kind of on a um just testing wise if you would um kind of the successes that we saw when we first started with the boys ranch um and we did the first round of testing progress monitoring one which was in September. Um in reading we had uh three level one scores, three level two scores and only one passing score. Um and this is 6 through 12. Um, in math 6 through 8, we had three level twos and one level one, no passing scores at all, um, in math. So then PM3, end of the year, um, we ended up with, uh, four level threes and one
006level four passing. Um, four of our boys in reading went up an entire level. So if they were a two, they went up to a three. Um, so we had four of our boys and then in math this was including the algebra and the geometry end of course exams. We had one level one but four level twos, four level threes passing and one level one um uh one level four sorry. So um then in US history we had four boys who took the US history exam and out of those four three of them passed. one with a level four and one with a level five in US history. And we had um three boys who took the biology, one of them passed, but it was with a level four. And we had one boy who
007took the uh civics exam and he passed the civics exam. So we saw great success um that when they were actually able to um uh get rid of all the noise of the public school system and um actually there in the schoolhouse that they now have um got put together at the boys ranch. They saw a lot of success for so we were really proud of them. Um the next thing is our graduates. Um most of you were at our graduate ceremony. Um, but we did have 15 total graduates this year, some of which we pulled from home education and we were able to slide them into the public school system so that they ended up uh graduating with a high school diploma. Two of those were early grads, which means they were juniors and
008they finished all of their coursework and exams for graduation and graduated as um 11th graders. Out of the 15 graduates, we had nine of those that had a 3.0 0 or better GPA. Um we've had two that were recognized at as top scholars for the district and as of current we have five that have been accepted into a college. Um so we're really proud of our um graduating virtual students. And the last thing I want to talk about real quick is um just our how we our community with the public um virtual school for this is our school. This is just like the other um schools in the county and we um they have the same opportunities as everybody else. So we want to make sure that they're taking full advantage of those. So, in
009the top leftand corner, um, if you were at graduation, you know that that's Jacob, and he was our, um, homeschool student that did everything on his own from fourth grade all the way up until, um, he was 20 years old, and he had completed all of his courses on his own. He reached out to us and said, "I want a high school diploma." We worked with him, did the exams, and ended up graduating. Um, just he was remarkable. But um also next to that you'll see where we host um different kind of workshops for our um students mainly our high school schoolers during the year. We host something every year that is our um senior night just like the high schools have things um of that nature. So we have it for anybody who's planning
010to graduate early or our seniors and we talk about postsecary options. Um my theme for this year was the three EN list or employment. Um we have people come in, military recruiters, someone from First Coast Tech, we have St. John's River come in, University of Florida. Um we had staff from the HR department here at the district office um show up this year and promote their Paris to pros program. We talk about scholarships and all sorts of things um for um what are you doing after you graduate. Um bottom left is the um St. John's Health um host a it's called the Brave Summit um every year. This is their fifth um this past March was their fifth event and it is um surrounds mental health and so there's mental health supporters that set up
011booths. They have keynote speakers that come in and it's from like 3 to 7 um at the amphitheater in St. John's County and for the past three years I've taken students um to this event and so that those are photos from that event um which they love. There's so many fun giveaways. They feed them, they love on them. Um it's just a really great event that um UF Health does. The middle one is Feed the Need. It was the um stamp out hunger event where we um had a table of those are all um PVS students and one of the parents of our P of a PVS student and um we filled bags and that's oatmeal. So we filled um bags and there were 200 plus high school students there um and we uh they
012they distribute that to um people around Putham County. And then the last photo um is throughout the year we um offer social events um for our students just so that they can get together. We can kind of grow the bond and community between the students. They get to see one another um and you know we can love on them. And this was a um taco party that we did um for our kids. It was it's a um it was around spring break if I remember. And we also um Miss Wood has a lot of talents um but she also knows how to um make soap. So she taught the kids how to make soap and we did some crafting of cards and they came back and picked up after the soap had cured and they
013gave them as um Mother's Day gifts. Um so it was a really great event. So I think that's all I have to share about PBS. So yes sir. Um so the boy ranch um formerly served on the board out there their numbers are down right now but they're growing them. Correct. I mean so as though as new boys come in they'll be part of our program. Yes sir. So um there um Mr. Pupard has already told me that they have several seventh grade boys in particular that are going to be coming to the ranch prior to school starting this year. So, we just go ahead and if there's a I just was out there um Monday and did all of my um face-to-face enrollment meetings with all the boys and we just sit down and
014I um allow them more kind of authority of their own education and say, you know, what do you think? These are some options, you know, that kind of thing. Um, some of them have taken intensive reading and math classes in the past and so we had conversations about that. Did they like the program they were using? Do they want to do something different? So, we'll do the same thing um as the group comes in prior to the start of the school year. Thank you. Excuse the I was going to ask ma'am. Do they have any special needs children out there? Um, we do not have any right now. We have had some in the past. Um because I was wondering how successful would they be well on doing it. Well, the boy ranch is really
015good about they have tutors and stuff that they hire that go out there and they're really getting like one- on-one um for the most part from their cottage parents or the relief parents or the tutors that come out there. So, we did have two that were on alternative assessment at one point and they since have moved on. Um but I will say that any of the boys that stayed with us for the duration of the school board or the school school year, whether it be a semester or the entire school year, they completed all their classes, 100% passed good. So, they they all were um did really well in the program. Do um do the boys at the the ranch have other options like the ability to go to a regular public school or is
016this the primary option for them? um for their core classes. Yes. Now, if they there was a elective opportunity that was on campus or I know that I was speaking with one of the relief parents out there on Monday and he's working with the coaches at some of the schools that some of the boys want to look at athletics. Um they do have those opportunities, but for the their core, yes, they're um putting them virtual 6 through 12 actually. Um been affiliated with the ranch for a long time. This program is working out a lot better than sending them to school. Not because the school wasn't was failing them, but because they had access to influences that weren't helpful, renting cell phones from other students, cell phones that gave them access to things that they're
017not allowed to see at the ranch, those sorts of things. So when the ranch converted to doing what it's doing now, uh they uh they they found that to be much more helpful, satisfactory, and less detrimental to what they're trying to accomplish. And Phil, to your point, for the first time in a long time, we re we actually have waiting list last month. Good. So um Yeah. So anyway, got Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. And just to add on to that, um, you know, I love having the school choice office homeschool and virtual alto together because the way that the boys ranch partnership started was David called me and said he was wanted to do homeschool and that got our conversation going of how can we keep this very important part of our community, part
018of our school system. And so that led to some creative and we' wanted I had wanted, you know, In fact, I feel like deja vu. I feel like I was back here about this time last year asking for Putinham Flex. Um, and but but between road he and just some needs that I was seeing over the year, the last few years of homeschool and not really being able to serve them the way I might have liked to, um, we got to this point and you guys did. Um, I want to thank you for your trust in our vision and our goals and what we were trying to do. It was a great success and boys on the boys ranch side um they love it. They are committed to um should a boy come along that
019has a real desire or need for a CTE class perhaps or something like that, they have committed that they would figure out transportation for that and we would do a cross entity setup. And I'll explain a little bit about cross entities um when we get going here. So, um, we talked last time about why this was needed, and I just want to sort of touch base on that again because, you know, the the reasons that I ran into this year, um, were pretty much what I expected, but, you know, reasons the kids didn't want to be on campus this year. It might have been we have some kids with strong anxiety. They throw up every time the thought of going to school and being in the big areas with all the people. Um, some had
020uh they were distracted from their learning by their social interactions or behavior. Um, some had medical issues of their own. Um, we had a one or two young ladies this year that were pregnant. Um, and then we had um a young man at Placa High School um I think he was a 10th grader. his mom was um she has cancer and he had to drive her to her treatments and so he could he had to have availability and flexibility to to care for her. So um there are a lot of different reasons. Um we've used it this year in an unexpected way to um diversion from expulsion to put a student off campus so we didn't have to expel them. Um some students I mean believe it or not some seniors they have to work
021for whatever reason their family situation is um this enabled that and then we have students coming a bunch this year came midyear or mid semester remember FLVS that was one of our reasons for going to this because we can do quarter class assignments with this and with FLVS it's a whole semester so if you had a kid that came in after the whole first nine weeks they would have to redo the whole first nine weeks but now we can assign just the second quarter. So this fit that need. Um I had one family that came and the student just come in mid year like that. They just didn't feel comfortable. They don't know know our community yet and they just wanted to ease into things a little bit. And then I had one that was
022already in virtual actually a couple that were in virtual where they came from wanted to keep going. So the reasons you know um and like I said in the past before we got this going this the really the only option in those situations would be to go out to homeschool and on your own go to FLVS flex or um Abeca online or K12 or connections one of those programs but our goal was to keep the student in some fashion um keep that progression even if they were expelled keep them earning credits and um parents call me all the time and they're doing the best they can. They want they they want what's best for their child and they're they're trying to they're looking for help. Um so what we were able to provide this year,
023you know, as opposed to FLVS, a lot of the expulsion families that I worked with in the past, the barrier for them was um they couldn't get through the registration with LVS. you have to upload proof of residency. A lot of times their license didn't match where they live. They they didn't have there just it was it was a barrier. Um they didn't know what classes to ask for. They just needed help. And so now we are a uh we're not a a faceless entity online somewhere that they're asking for classes. They can come in, they can call us, they can explain, they'll say, "I let me tell you my situation and I want your advice and we can they can come in, call on the phone, but they know we're here. We're local." Um,
024explain the options. A lot of them really don't understand what it takes to get the diploma. Their high school child says they don't want to go to school anymore, but they and you would we would assume that they understand credits and that these tests have to be passed and all this, but they have a vague understanding. And so we have to really like okay this is what where your child is right now. We do a little graduation coaching um and then we kind of um the great thing about Putinham Flex is I create the account. There's no barrier. I create the username, the password, assign the classes. I make sure that that's those are the classes they need that they're not redoing a class that they already have. So it's a safety net for the
025parent, a support. Um and it's really great because a lot of times they come to us disenfranchised. there's not always been a great um situation that they're coming out of. And then the support doesn't stop there. We do a very customized weekly progress report um of exactly we can look at the exact minutes the student was active online. I mean there's no hiding anything from mom, you know, and say I I did it. No. Well, this is this is the proof is in the pudding here with these percentages and the data that you earned this week. Um the message that we we say to the homeschool parents or any of the parents that are looking for a oopsie sorry solution is um you know these students are all Putinham students whether or not they're part
026of the public school system they're still putum students and that's you know I think that disarms the parent and they feel okay you know you're on my side. Um so let's look at these numbers. I know you you have that data, but data you can look at it many different ways. I it's actually a super good year and um I didn't want to focus on the financial side. I wanted to focus on the student side which you know is represented by these numbers. And if you look at the we'll start with the big number at the bottom. 667 out of 1369 courses um were completed and you can do the math there if you like with the um FTE earned for those. But I'm throwing everything in there. When I look when you were talking
027about the 1369 attempts that is even ones that were dropped during the grace window. A lot of people thought they would try this. They figure out this is not for them. sometimes they move away by no choice of their own. Um and and the great uned outcome it sometimes is uh we started some kids off in Putinham virtual full-time program this year. The parent thought they wanted to take this on. two weeks in, they have decided that that's a little more than they wanted to take on, and they reenroll their child back into our public school system with a new appreciation and understanding of what it it all entails to um keep a student on task all day long. Um so let's see here. So I wanted I believe in with this side of the
028program, you know, Putinham virtual, you have to have certain, you know, criteria for that. um just kind of like Cambridge or something like that, you know. But I cast a wide and open net. Anybody who wanted to try could if they requested it, I gave them a shot. I assigned them the classes. It takes a lot of time on our part. Um but it's worth it because if you cast that wet kn far enough and wide enough, that's more opportunities, more chances of success for kids. And um and I love that about it. If we look at the home ed kids, that was my goal was 10% uh of our homeschool population and we exceeded that slightly and this is all mind you this was a soft start this year. We did not advertise because
029we just wanted to get it in place and get going. Um 44% completion rate. So that is huge to me. That is a great thing because that is um over a hundred students that got some good education. a bunch of them completed. Um, it's a entryway into possibly coming back into the school system, whether that's back into the virtual public school or a regular public school, but we're getting them earning and progressing and sort of assuring that they're getting on track with other students in our district. Um, I'll tell you just three real quick um, homeschooler stories we had. You already saw Jacob Wills. He was the one that was homeschooled pretty much on his own. Um, and we he that's that entry into getting that diploma started with a phone call to home saying,
030"I've been homeschooling. Um, you know, I'm s on my own because he's 20, I think. Um, what would I have to do to get a diploma?" I look at it, you know, and he sends me the transcript. You have almost everything. Let's get you a diploma. You know, and so it's those conversations. Uh, another boy uh he um his mom just came in for an annual review and I was looking at everything and he had almost everything and she went to get your diploma. Yes. And so we were able but they she was just going to do a home school diploma but we were able to pull them over. So it's those conversations that end um in great ways. And then we had a young man whose uh mother died and he sort of went
031out to homeschool just sort of fell apart a little bit and um but at the last 11th hour he got going and we were able to bring him back from home school into the the virtual side and and grant him his diploma. Um so great successes and then sometimes I I like the saying um if at first you don't succeed try try again and sometimes that happens. It takes kids a while sometimes to acclimate to online learning and if they get dropped during the grace window um I say you know you're welcome to request another chance and um I remember one situation where we had these two siblings they had gone out from home school of PAL high school and um you know the mom was so mad when they got dropped you know and
032and I said well you know I'll give them another shot if they like and sure enough they did it. Second time around, second time they got it together. So a lot of times, you know, giving them a second chance is um that's what the key is. Well, Mary, it's the care and the time and the opportunity that you guys have done that make the difference. go back to the boys ranch and you know we used to give buses so they'd bring the kids to school but that's that's not as easy as it would be for them to try to work out a solution at the ranch for these kids but what you've done is just amazing well thank you very nice so I want to talk to you about a new term you might not
033be familiar with cross entity and this was like not really something I this program grew we saw opportunities throughout the year and I didn't really anticipate this one But this is what happened. So you can have a student enrolled in their public zone school, Plaque High School, Crescent City, whatever for their school of enrollment. Their school of instruction can be different. And so we were able to problem solve on a lot of students this year. Um it was really a partnership partnership between the school, the home and us to find to create use virtual courses to address needs for some students. And this way the school kept the student. They were still a Kelly Smith student or a QI student or an interlocking high school student. They just took their courses off campus. Sort of
034like dual enrollment kind of thing. Okay. So when they graduate, it will actually be their home school written on their diploma. Yes. And we had a bunch this year. Um let me think if I can give you some examples. Um we had two get their diploma from Interlockin High. Um we had a QI a QI young man. He only needed two courses. Something was going on. He couldn't be on campus or something. Same thing at at with two with interlocking. they got their diplomas from those high schools by taking their courses with us. Um, a lot of times with the younger ones, we really hadn't um intended on a lot of young ones doing it. Um, but there was some needs along the year um just with some of our elementary schools, especially with the
035sixth graders at the elementary schools. just different situations came upon us and um it you know it's it was just it was a great option to have another solution to be able to offer to the school to the principal. Um and it this you could only get a cross entity set up if the principal requested it. That's what I was going to ask. Who identifies that there's a need? So a student couldn't call. No, they'd have to go to Mr. Adams and say, "Okay." And that was to control it so that we didn't want, "Oh, my friend's doing that. I want to do that." You know, we wanted to make sure it was really truly need-based, that there wasn't another way to solve the problem. Um, and uh, and sometimes the principles um, a lot
036of times like it was a health issue or something. It wasn't always like a discipline issue. Don't think that it was always discipline, but sometimes it was uh, diversion from expulsion. like your behavior on campus is not working and so we don't want to lose you but you need to work off campus for a while. Great option. Students were it says 84% of the 19 cross entities. Okay. So that 84% let's go on to the expelled kids though. So, um, 16 of the 19 expelled students, um, had the opportunity to be put on Putinham Flex. In the past, you know, if you were expelled, unless you were ESC, you're on your own. So, this has given a beautiful option to the expulsion committee to be able to say a feel a little bit of security
037in knowing we're not just cutting them loose because the truth is they will probably come back to us, especially if they're a middle schooler. And the more we can do to support them and keep them learning along the way, the better it is. The better it is for the student, the family, the community, the schools, everybody's because we're just all working together on that. Um, we have a young lady who was expelled just this year and she did so great. She completed everything, stayed on pace the whole time. So, she'll be reenrolling back at Placa High School as a ninth grader, having done all of her eighth grade this year on as a C, you know, as a when they when they're expelled, we um and they're not ESSE, we put them under homeschool. So,
038as a homeschooler, she completed and um a number of students are I mean, we had some incredible students that were expelled. In fact, expulsion um kids surprised me. They really did. Hopefully, they'll go back to their home school with an a deeper appreciation like you mentioned earlier and not do the foolish things that they did. Yes, they make just like we do. They make stupid mistakes sometimes. And we did offer testing for all of those students too. So, even though they were expelled, we test at CEO. So since that was not a school site, um we did have a process set up that they could come and take their assessments needed at the end of the year. Awesome. Was there like counseling for say the you know on whatever they did wrong and how it
039would or so part of well on the expulsion kids. Absolutely. um with the expulsion kids, you know, Justin and I um try to do what's called a pre-expulsion conference prior to and we talk about we actually if they will meet with us or at least communicate with us, you'll you've probably noticed if the with the expulsion kids, they're a little bit better prepared now because we explain to the parent what it's going to look like, how do you need to conduct yourself? They're a little bit better prepared and also owning that mistake. We counsel them that um you really have to own it. You can't blame someone else. You can't try to say the school should have done something different. You know, you really need to own it. And but as far as like counseling,
040if they needed mental health counseling, if it was an anger issue or something, usually the expulsion committee will recommend that. Yeah, we do continue counseling and mental health counseling. Um, on the cross entities, uh, before we leave that, I heard a funny way to describe it. It's like a good breakup. It's not you, it's not me. We just aren't working right now, right? But we don't want to burn the bridge because you never know. We might get back together. And that's how we have to look at these these uh relationships with these families that need a different solution for right now. Um, and then finally, our an unexpected little partnership was with the um Putnham County Sheriff's Office. Um unfortunately we had I think about 10 to start with um juveniles that are being tried
041as adults. So they're not getting the opportunity to go to DJJ. If they went to DJJ they'd be served by FLVS but they were just in the jail doing nothing. And so um they wanted to partner with us and we put them on Putinham Flex and they get to earn rewards um from the people that are in charge over there. They earn pizza and I What's the thing they love? Is it something they love? I can't remember what the snack was. if it was Cheetos or something. There was some snack that they'll do about anything for and I can't remember what it was. Takis. I was curious if you teach them how to make soap. I haven't done a soap class. Now, we did offer to go out and award little certificates. But, um, you
042know, that was the first year of getting that going and we didn't start that probably till mid year. Now, is Adam George yours? I think Adam picked got picked up there. Yeah. Okay. Because he he he shared with me that's what he was doing now. And I was Yeah. So, it's been it's just been a huge success. And you know, if any of you want to know more about on the financial side, um I will say there was significant net on this. Um but that's not what it's about, you know. All right. And my grandmother made last you boil it and do all the old fat crockot. Okay, granny. Wow. Question I was talking with John about before the meeting. So, do you anticipate our uh virtual school enrollment continuing to increase um especially with
043um the uh universal the money that the legislature paying for scholarships or you know, we have set ourselves up really well to capture that. Um you know, you can see our traditional virtual school enrollment has gone way down. Um is that because they're going for PP? I don't know. But we know that just just by the little dangling of Putinham Flex this year to homeschoolers, um we did have Jonathan will explain about our plans with PEP, but we set the stage this year by getting this platform to be able to capture the PEP um and well as well as the other scholarships that are out there. And so now that you've got it in place, you're going to be advertising that too for Yes. Okay. Yes. We didn't want to advertise something we weren't sure
044how to work. Yeah, I know exactly what So if we gave you a family that we know of that has four children and a younger one that really need to be in school. They said they were homeschooling them, but it's not happening. Um would you initiate a call or they have to initiate the call? No, I'm I'm happy any of you if you're talking to your constituents out there, please give them my name as a as a point of contact. We'll find a solution. If I if they explain their situation a little bit to me, I can guide them. Do we need to do homeschool with Putinham Flex? Do we need to look at our virtual school application for a virtual school, you know, and we can, you know, try to have a card? Do
045I have a card? I I'll get you one. Okay. Thanks. But thank you all. Thank you. Yeah, that's our plans. Just continue refining what we're doing right now. and um keep building. I think you've done an incredible job of of moving forward. I can't wait. I'm very grateful for the team I work with. Um and they've done a great job this year. I'm always putting something in front of them that's brand new that we're building as we go. Uh and they go right along with me without very many complaints. So, I appreciate that. Um Mary is definitely the person who fields a lot of calls in our office. Um she's kind of the the school choice concier. She she knows all the options and she's great at coaching families and helping them feel heard um
046and uh helping them hopefully get to a solution. Uh we heard a phrase the other day and and she likes it a lot. So just trying to get them to a yes, right? Like help them figure out a way where they can still feel a part of our school district and and our community. So, with that, I want to share with you um the third uh agenda item before we wrap up, and that is brand new. So, again, we're tackling another new another new um option for families uh here this month. Um this option is actually going to be run um by Barbara in my office. Um just because I again, it's brand new and I don't know what to expect. It could be little or it could be a lot. Um, so before I
047talk to you about our procedures and plans, I want to make sure I ground you in some basic knowledge. So the personalized education program is one of the scholarships through the Florida tax credit scholarship and it's managed by the SFO stepup for students. The PEP program um is for Florida students only who are not enrolled in a public or private school full-time and they also cannot be registered as home education students. The reason for that is that PEP students are registered with step up for students and step up for students is responsible for monitoring their progress and so therefore they come off of our home education rosters that the district manages and looks at. The scholarship is available for all students K to 12 regardless of income. uh in the coming year 2526 uh up
048to a 100,000 students uh can be uh approved to have the PEP scholarship and the deadline for applying was April 30th. So the application period has closed um and the state is currently in the process of awarding those uh scholarships for the coming year. Like I said before, step up for students is responsible for managing and monitoring their progress. And so PEP families do have to declare a grade level. They also have to submit and maintain a student learning plan to the SFO, the step up, and they have to take a norm reference test annually. We also allow them to take one of the statewide assessments um and they can do that with uh us here at the district. The scholarship funds with the PEP program, they are they get uh they get placed in
049an education savings account that functions kind of like a bank account. And so one of the choices of expenditures a family can use their ESA for their savings account for is contracted services provided by a public school or school district and that includes classes or courses. So that's what I want to share with you. Next, we have put procedures in place and I'm going to direct you to your folder. In your folder, um I did include a copy of the policy. Um this policy was advertised a few months back and you approved it um at the last board meeting. So, we do have policy guiding us. Um but our procedures um the very first thing for families from a family perspective is that after they accept one of these PEP scholarships, they have to then
050make sure they've withdrawn their their child from the current public or or private school and then they have to terminate home education registration with the school district. Um after they have done that, there is a form on our website and those families fill out the form. Uh, and what that form does is it says, "Hey, we are requesting services. This is kind of what we're looking for. I'd like my child to take onampus courses. I'm I you know, maybe it's an elective, maybe it's um they only want them to take certain type of courses on campus or they can request virtual courses." So, when you ask the question about growing our virtual programs, they can take part-time coursework with Putinham Flex um as a contracted service. So families fill out the form basically saying, "Hey,
051we have the PEP scholarship. We would like to take ser or have services from your school district." And then um if they are going to request and do onampus services, we are going to require them to fill out the registration packet for safety reasons. I believe it's really important for us to know all of the things about your child and the health things and all of the the other important pieces because they're physically on a campus. if something happens, we need that full registration. So for onampus families, they will have to do the registration packet and then there's kind of a process there where um a member of my team is kind of going back and forth and figuring out what can we provide you. So what I mean by that is let's say you
052a family has requested for their child that they want to take certain onampus courses. Well, if those onampus courses are full, like obviously we're going to give our full-time students priority. Um maybe those onampus services that what like what the coursework they want is maybe like first and sixth period. Well, we're not going to let your kid just hang out on campus for 2 through 5th. So, you're you're going to have to choose. You can either come for first period and do that or you can come for sixth period because it's only offered that. I mean, there's just different situations where we're going to do our best to accommodate, but we're not going to be able to get guarantee everything. There may be families that also want like a couple of onampus um courses and
053maybe a virtual course or maybe the on-ampus course they wanted, we can't put them in because it's full, but we can give them a virtual course. Um, so there's kind of this like back and forth and figuring out what they want to do. And then step four is they come in for a face-to-face contract meeting with our staff. And in that meeting, we verify, and I'm going to go through the contract here with you, but we verify everything in the contract. And we have a signed document then that says that we are going to provide this service and you are required to reimburse us um through your education savings account. And we have that all set up. Uh and then after that is just starting whatever service they've requested. Okay. So from the family, that's
054kind of the five steps of the procedures that we have in place. And so now I want to just take you through a couple of the documents so you better understand our plan. Um I'm not going to go over the policy, but I did give you a copy of that in there for you. Um our policy was was developed to um put obviously policy in place, but also to not uh be too um stringent to where we wouldn't be able to be flexible as we implement. So a lot of our procedures will govern um what happens that's listed in the policy. Uh if you will go to the next document in your folder, I want to talk about the um I want to talk about the fee structure. So there's a one page front and
055back that is the PEP fee structure. Um I actually I actually want to start on the back. Uh this is what we are going to start with. I don't know that this is where we will end, but we feel like this is a safe place, a manageable place to begin. Um, and so we have virtual courses that we will offer for K through 12. Uh, for onampus, we are only going to start by offering that for grades 7 through 12. when you start thinking about elementary schools and onampus that makes it a little more difficult to figure out like it, you know, you only want to come for the reading block or you only want to come for a special like and so we're not quite there yet. So with secondary courses middle school and
056up, it's a lot easier for us to be like you're going to come for third period and fourth period and then you're going home. um our fee structure has been built uh to be all-incclusive and by that I mean we are considering in this the cost of the course the materials um the administrative costs of getting this all set up um the curriculum materials that you'll be using when you when you come in if it's a virtual course obviously we're paying for that virtual course because somebody's teaching it so we have tried to be considerate of all the different things to make sure that at the end of the day we can provide a service but we are not losing money by providing a service. So that's how we came up with these numbers. We
057will also provide contracted services for assessments but those vary based on the assessment the family is requesting. If you go back to the front can I ask you a question? Sure. I understand you know IEEP was individual educational plan. Now, we've got PEP, personalized educational program. But if a student, and the fee structure I was looking at, if a student somewhere wanted to be in a a class that that we could offer, I mean, it's it's all this is all statewide. This is a similar structure of fees. We're we're So, I'm just every district is currently figuring this out. Um just this past Monday, NEC put together a subcommittee meeting around school choice. Both Mary and I attended. Um so we had a great conversation with NEC districts around fees was one of the topics.
058Um and everybody's kind of all over the place. I will tell you with virtual fees, ours is right in line with with FLVS. Um a lot of the other private virtuals are much higher than the fees that we are proposing. Yeah, it looks like we're com we're we're we're going into competition with FLVS, which is good. I mean, if that's seems to be the national norm is to be competitive in education. Okay, I I'll I'm good. And just to finish my response to that, the onampus we we thought a little bit about um base student allocation in thinking about like a student and the funds we get through a BSA and if that was divided by six courses and we're thinking about the cost like obviously we pay for lots more, right? and and we
059get additional funding for things like mental health and stuff, but that's kind of where we started thinking about the BSA that we get. And if you were to think about having a six period day and taking six courses and so um but I will tell you for districts this is challenging. There are districts that are higher than us. There are districts that are lower than us. And so we're we're going to see. Is there a limit on the number of classes say a a parent could request? It cannot be full-time. So, it could be four out of It has to be part-time. So, it can't be a full-time class load. I look at some of the things that Rick's been involved in with STEM, and I I just don't know if we're to that point
060yet, but I don't know if Putnham could be offering some type of STEM type classes. I Who knows? That's there's got to be a market for that statewide with what we've had going on here. So I just you'll hear enough about it when you're Well, I think in our first year we'll kind of get a sense of what families are looking for and that will help us moving forward. I mean this will be a year of learning just like last year was a year of learning with Putinham Flex being brand new. Good deal. it. I'm just thinking um for the student that parent may take three classes and say that child is disrupted and they've paid us. So, I'm going to I'm about to go through the contract with you, okay? But I'll skip right
061to section A. Um when students take contracted services with us, they will follow the district student code of conduct. Um and so we have we have built a contract to lay these things out so that families understand. Um now to your point about like if if a family is not able to finish or a family just like Mary talked about, we give people the option of trying something. The very first page of the fee structure talks a little bit about what we've built into accommodate like we've given everybody a 14-day withdrawal window. Um but beyond that, you may or may not be charged for certain things um depending on how long you're with us. Okay. So, we have tried to think through that piece as well. Um, but yeah, students will be expected to follow
062the student code of conduct and if you misbehave just like and do something just like some of our other students, there will be consequences. Well, and that's that's that's a wonderful option to have because for years, you know, we we had agreements where you could if a child was up for expulsion in Putham County, you could let them written letter from the superintendent of 10 county uh education in surrounding county if they would take them. But now this this gives options in lie of expulsion that that will just be dramatically improve the lives of some of these kids that make stupid mistakes. So John, I have a Oh, go ahead. I I have a question. Um it says that they'll terminate their homeschool registration. Registration. So that means that then they couldn't use the money
063that they get to purchase. No, they still can. They can still purchase things um because they're still schooling at home. Okay. But the when a family chooses home education, they submit to the district um a letter of intent, assigned letter of intent to go to home education. It is on us, and Mary is the person who does this. It is on us as the district to monitor that those students who are registered with us for home education are submitting their annual portfolios and those annual evaluations or portfolios come to us. The difference with PAP is that step up for students is responsible for monitoring and so they are registered with step up for students and they submit their their their annual learning plan and their test scores to step up for students not to us.
064If I may just in for a second when I'm articulating this with a parent who is getting a scholarship and is calling me to terminate I tell them this is just the way I explain it to everybody your homeschooling at the state level now versus homeschooling at the district level. But do we get that child passes, you know, gets fives on all their Yeah. Oh, they don't test. So, we don't get No, none of the home. No. Good or bad? No. None of the home education students come into our school or district grades? No. And none of these students that are on contracted services would count for our our data. No, we could we would test them at the end if they opted into testing, but it wouldn't count for our Yeah, we can test
065them, but they but it doesn't count for our data more so than more so than ever. You have made it we we've always tried to do all things for all people, but now you're really going out there and and it's the sky's the limit on what you guys come up with. I'm just really pleased. That's a big promise to make, but it is um we're trying to be accommodating. I had the same question. Holly has answered that, but I still um you know, the legislature budgeted 3.9 billion this year for charter schools. I don't know what the amount was for the opportunity scholarships they call them, but the amount went up. It's over $9,000 now. So, tell me help me with the connection to they come into our program, they they're not homeschooled anymore, correct?
066And so then then that FET FET money, they don't get the scholarship money. It comes to the district. Correct. No. So with PEP specifically, remember their money goes into an education savings account. Okay. And so the way we get paid is not through FTE. We actually do not report these students at all for FTE purposes. They're non-reported. The way we get paid is through the education savings account and a direct payment to us. So what we have done is we have become a district provider in the platform in the marketplace and what we do is we submit an invoice to the family. The family uploads that invoice into the platform and that invoice spells out, you know, I as a parent am saying that my child is going to take this ELA course and band
067from the Putnham County School District. This is how much it costs. There's a whole process in there that's back and forth of district approving and parent approving, but then that money directly comes from their education savings account to our district. There's actually no cash transfer of money between the parent and us. It's a direct payment from the ESA at stepup for students into our district accounts. So we are not getting any FTE for these students. We are being paid through the scholarship organization organization and the education savings accounts. So now with that account, the parents themselves can't just get anything out of it just for any reason. No, they can actually Well, they they can. So the parent as long as it's an approvable expense, the parent can there are still reimbursement options. So a
068parent could, let's say, purchase a curriculum online that they wanted to use for maybe ELA. And so they can purchase that and then they can and they can submit that invoice to the scholarship organization and then be reimbursed from their savings account. So that is still an option, but the option we're using for district contracted services is direct payment. So that there's actually not money. We're just doing a direct payment rather than going as a reimbursement through the parent if that makes sense because it's a lot easier and we're more than guaranteed to get our money in the end. And see, no, I wasn't concerned so much about us. I was concerned about these parents that will use that money. Well, that's un that's not us. No, that's why I said I was hoping when
069I heard savings account and uploading even though it's not us that they wouldn't just be able to go into that account and use monies for things that are not educational for their children. I mean that's on them but I'm just saying I just hate the fact that they have that money at their and the problem once that account is audited and they find you know they did that then they got to pay it back. Well good good but we don't have to deal with any of that. Right. Right. No no no I'm I'm satisfied. What? Yes. Um I just want to point out a couple of things in the contract and obviously you can take this with you and look through it. Um we are planning to launch next week and after the fourth. Um
070we do have a couple of families who are interested already and so we've just been putting them off until we were ready to go. Um but if you have any questions or comments later, please reach out to me. Um in the contract section A is just some verification of things like I talked about making sure the parent understands their child will still need to follow the student code of conduct. Obviously they still have to follow our district calendar. like if we have the day off like we're not providing a service that day, right? So things like that. The second section uh section B is where we will actually spell out the contracted services the family will be getting. If it's an on-ampus school, what school is it, what's the start date, the cost of everything,
071um and the names of those courses. In section C, this goes over all of the invoicing and payments. And so, um, this kind of spells out the timeline for when we will invoice, when you're expected to submit, um, approval for those direct, uh, payments from the ESA. And then section D um, is additional terms for students who are in onampus um, contracted services. We are requiring them to do a Chromebook rental and they'll pay that fee out of their scholarship um, fund. that Chromebook rental is really the only way we can guarantee easy access to online materials, to Canvas, to all of the other learning supports. And um that's just the best way to do that for for students who are physically showing up on campus. My final question, is there a way to access
072District Cambridge programs? Yes, if there's space. So when they go and request services, they would request, hey, I want this sort of course. you're liable to space out of county people wanting to do that. I just just something to think about. Yep. Um we do not provide transportation. That is completely up to the family. And then there are some attendance and academic expectations um that they can't get on our buses. They cannot get on our buses. Nope. We don't provide busing. Um, if the student is on campus, so if they have first period, we will provide them breakfast. If they have if they're on campus through lunch, like they have maybe a third, fourth, and fifth period class or something, we will provide them lunch. And then it's just a statement there verifying that they
073understand their child is not enrolled with us. They're just receiving contracted services from us. And so that contract gives us a little bit of written and signed um documentation that we have reviewed all this stuff with you and in the event there's ever an issue we can always go back to this document as a way of trying to um mitigate any issues that come up. Um all of our choice options that we have spoken about today all have web pages um on our district website. The PEP page is not published. um if you know about it, you can go to it, but it'll be published next week, but the others have been there for virtual school and home education. And with that, I thank you for your time this afternoon. And I want to point
074out that I was at the NEC board of directors meeting today and they talked about the choice meeting you had on Monday and I know a number of districts uh were in attendance. A couple of superintendents attended, but it was a great conversation I hear and you know, I think we we are learning with each other. This is something that we're all trying to navigate. But the number one thing they wanted to point out and I think I've heard Mary say this a number of times is we even though we're in competition and this is about choice. We don't want to alienate the parents, we want to reach out to them and you know be courteous and provide whatever service we can with the goal of trying to possibly bring them back into our schools.
075But we're really trying to meet their needs. That's fantastic. If they can come back to brick and mortar, that's great. But this is the environment we're in and and we're trying to embrace it. So, I really commend you for, you know, creativity. One last question. Um, when a are PE like is it the parent responsibility to come to the district or is the district notified that people, you know, received that in our district, the PEP? Um we have a list of students so we know who has the scholarship. Okay. Um at the end of last now we don't have numbers for the upcoming school year but in May of last year for the 2425 school year there were 185 students in Putham County who had the PEP scholarship. So that's that's how we ended the
076year. Okay. It's a lot of kids. That's K through 12. Correct. Or correct. Yep. I am very pleased and and very happy. That's very good. All right. Well, we journ this this 1:30 workshop and take a quick recess.