RESOLUTION REGARDINGILLINOIS VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOL @ FOX VALLEY PROPOSAL

DENYING THE CHARTER SCHOOL PROPOSAL

WHEREAS, the State of Illinois enacted the Charter Schools Law [Public Act 89-450,

105 ILCS 5/27A-1, et seq.], effective April 10, 1996; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of Virtual Learning Solutions (“VLS”) submitted a

Proposal (the ILVCS Proposal) to the of Community Unit School District 300 Board of

Education (Board of Education) for a charter school to be called the Illinois Virtual Charter

School @ Fox River Valley (ILVCS@FRV) to the Board of Education on February 14, 2013;

and

WHEREAS, the Board of Education convened a public meeting on March 18, 2013, to

obtain information to assist the Board of Education in its decision to grant or deny the ILVCS

Proposal and published and posted appropriate notice of the meeting in compliance with Sections

27A-8(c) and (d) of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-8(c) and (d)]; and

WHEREAS, Section 27A-8(e) of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-8(e)]

requires the Board of Education to vote, in a public meeting, to grant or deny the charter school

proposal within 30 days after the meeting to obtain information on the proposal; and

WHEREAS, after reviewing and considering the provisions and requirements of the

Charter Schools Law, the ILVCS Proposal, and the information provided at the public meeting

referred to above, the Board of Education stands ready to make a determination regarding the

ILVCS Proposal.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Education of Community

Unit School District No. 300, Kane, McHenry, Cook, and DeKalb Counties, Illinois:

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Section 1. Recitals. The Board of Education hereby finds and determines that all

recitals in the preambles to this Resolution are full, true, and correct, and does hereby incorporate

them into this resolution by reference.

Section 2. Denial of Charter School Proposal. The Board of Education has

considered the ILVCS Proposal and hereby denies the ILVCS Proposal.

Section 3. Rationale for Denial. The ILVCS Proposal does not conform to the

standards and requirements of the Charter Schools Law for granting a charter school proposal.

The Board, as a charter school authorizer, is required to decline to approve weak or inadequate

charter applications. 105 ILCS 5/27A.-7.10. After its review of the ILVCS Proposal and the

testimony provided at the public hearing, the Board concludes that the ILVCS Proposal does not

comply with Illinois law and is an otherwise weak proposal. The specific reasons for the

Board’s denial, which are examined in detail below, include, but are not limited to, the

following: (i) the Proposal does not include or comply with numerous statutory requirements for

charter school proposals contained in Section 7 of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-7];

(ii) there is no public support for the proposal; (iii) evidence establishes that the ILVCS@FRV

Charter School would in essence be a for profit school in violation of Section 27A-5 of the

Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-5]; (iv) evidence establishes that the ILVCS@FRV

Charter School would be a home based school in violation of Section 27A-5 of the Charter

Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-5]; and (v) the proposal is not in the best interests of School

District students.

A. The Proposal Does not Comply with the Requirements of Section 27A-7 of the Charter Schools Law. The ILVCS Proposal does not comply with the following specific requirements of Section 27A-7 of the Charter Schools Law and, therefore, must be denied.

1. The Proposal is not submitted in the form of a contract-105 ILCS 27A-7 . A charter school proposal must be submitted to the local school board in the form of a

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contract. The ILVCS Proposal is not in the form of contract and does not include a contract between VLS and the School District. It is instead a document that contains broad goals and unspecific assertions without including any specific obligations of the parties.

2. The Proposal does not provide maximum and minimum number of students-105 ILCS 27A-7(a)(2). Charter school proposals must provide the minimum and maximum number of students to be enrolled in the charter school. The ILVCS Proposal provides no minimum or maximum enrollment. It only provides baseless estimates of student enrollment. The absence of this information is critical. Without a minimum number of students, the Board has no ability to determine the number of students to ensure that the ILVCS@FRV Charter School is self-sustaining. On the other hand, without a maximum enrollment, an overwhelming enrollment of School District students in the ILVCS@FRV Charter School would be financially devastating to the School District.

3. There is no school site-105 ILCS 27A-7(a)(3). Charter school proposals must include the address of the physical plant where the charter school will be located or, if there is no lease, the location of two sites which will potentially be available when the charter school opens. There appears to be no lease and, while the ILVCS Proposal lists two potential sites, there is no evidence in the record that these sites are appropriate for the ILVCS@FRV Charter School or that these sites would actually be used for student instruction. In addition, in accordance with Section 27A-5(d) of the Charter Schools Law, charter schools “shall comply with all applicable health and safety requirements applicable to public schools under the laws of the State of Illinois.” 105 ILCS 5/27A-5(d). There is no indication in the ILVCS Proposal that the proposed sites will comply with these requirements.

4. The goals, objectives, and pupil performance to be achieved by the charter school and the description of the charter school’s educational program, and curriculum are vague, are not in the best interest of students, and do not comply with law -105 ILCS 27A-7(a)(5) and (a)(7). The ILVCS Proposal is vague and provides incomplete information on the school’s goals, objectives, curriculum, its plan for evaluating pupil performance, and its assessment system. See In the Matter of the Appeal of the Proposal to Establish the Champaign-Urbana Charter School Initiative, No. 2002-2 (Nov. 28, 2002, State of Illinois Superintendent of Education, State Board of Education Appeal Panel). Further, the ILVCS Proposal does not state how it will incorporate Illinois common core standards. The Board has the additional following concerns regarding the overall education program:

Curriculum map and track record

VLS has no track record for running charter schools or providing educational services. In fact, the ILVCS Proposal states that “Since Virtual Learning Solutions is a newly formed organization with no prior experience as an entity in school operations, Virtual Learning Solutions intends to contract with K12 Virtual Schools LLC” (page 8 of the ILVCS Proposal). Thus, VLS is handing over all

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educational program responsibilities to K12. K12 selects the head of school, will likely hire the teachers, will provide all programming, and K12 actually conducted the majority of the ILVCS@FRV Charter School presentation at the public hearing, an extraordinary role for a mere vendor. While VLS references that K12 has a “track record of academic success” (page 6 of the ILVCS Proposal) it provides no concrete evidence to support this. Instead, the only evidence in the record of a K12 Illinois run charter school was information related to the Chicago Virtual School. That information established that K12’s program has resulted in an increased dropout rate and lower ACT scores per year. In addition, K12 and VLS were unable to answer basic questions about the educational program of the school during the public hearing process. K12/VLS’ main position was that certain students may want the type of program offered by K12/VLS, but they provided virtually no support for how the program intends on succeeding.

Curriculum Development Plan

The curriculum development plan submitted by VLS is not aligned with the Illinois English Language Development Standards.

The ILVCS Proposal provides no details regarding instructional modifications or changes to educational environment to support individualized needs (for example, hands on instruction).

Assessing Student Needs, Remediation, and Acceleration

According to the ILVCS Proposal, student performance will be measured through Scantron Performance Series. While benchmarks for measuring growth are stated, what the benchmarks are and how they will be determined is not stated.

The ILVCS Proposal does not provide a clear understanding of the remediation and accelerated learning needs of individual students and does not present an integrated plan for academic gains.

The ILVCS Proposal lacks evidence that the proposed curriculum will be effective for the School District’s at-risk population. It further lacks an adequate systematic plan to address the needs of at-risk students that need remediation in specific academic deficient areas and/or social/emotional intensification supports on an ongoing basis.

The ILVCS Proposal lacks a concrete description of sustaining accelerated learners over time.

Instructional Strategies

Any mention of instructional strategies is surface at best.

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Charter schools must set forth rigorous school content standards. 105 ILCS 5/27A-2(b)(1) and (8). The ILVCS Proposal does not appear to provide rigorous standards for students. Student learning targets for grade levels are absent from the ILVCS Proposal.

Charter schools must increase learning opportunities for all students, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for at-risk students. 105 ILCS 5/27A-2(a)(2). The ILVCS Proposal lacks specific research driven data connecting VLS’ proposed educational program to at-risk students.

The ILVCS Proposal lacks a clear student promotion policy that identifies student grade levels in a proposed system based on student pacing.

The ILVCS Proposal lacks specific details or a description of internal or external services the ILVCS@FRV Charter School will provide for social and emotional interventions.

Career Prep Plan

There is no evidence of any career preparation plan, nor any course scope and sequence in an industry-specific pathway.

The ILVCS Proposal lacks clear course sequencing for: middle school (7-8) students that lead to High School College and Career Prep track and high school (9-12) students that lead to four-year competitive colleges (i.e. Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana).

Learning Coaches

A charter school proposal must include a description of the educational program. 105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(7). While certified teachers will be used, the K12 program requires students to use learning coaches that are not employees of K12 or otherwise affiliated with VLS. By K12/VLS’ own admission at the public meeting, learning coaches are essential and required parts of the education program and will typically be parents or another unpaid responsible adult. This type of requirement raises several legal questions that VLS and K12 have not answered. First, learning coaches will presumably not have teaching certificates, but due to their required involvement in the education of students it begs the question as to whether one is required. Further, requiring unpaid learning coaches will limit the types of students who will be eligible for this program to students with at least one stay at home parent or upper income students that can afford their own learning coaches. Such a structure in practice discriminates against low-income, working, and single parent households in violation of the requirement that charter schools be open to all students. 105 ILCS 27A-4(d).

English Language Learners

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The modality of instruction is very limited and does not address the language proficiency levels of English Language Learners. For example, the proposal and testimony provided no evidence as to how ELL students receiving a virtual education will receive the necessary interaction with teachers and fellow students that is essential to developing language skills.

Under Section 27A-4(a) of the Charter Schools Law, a charter school shall be subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting, among other things, discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, or need for special education services. [105 ILCS 5/27A-4(a)]. While the ILVCS Proposal does provide some information on differentiated instruction, it does not address differentiated instruction based on the language proficiency levels of English Language Learners. Further, native language instruction for students in the transitional bilingual program is not established. See In the Matter of the Proposal to Establish the YouthBuild Rockford Charter School, No. 99-1 (Oct. 14, 1999, State of Illinois Superintendent of Education, State Board of Education Appeal Panel). As a result, based on the ILVCS Proposal and testimony at the public hearing, the ILVCS@FRV Charter is not a reasonable option for non-native speaking students. This exclusion violates Section 27A-4(d), which provides that enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any pupil that resides within the geographic boundaries of the School District. [105 ILCS 5/27A-4(a)].

Special Education

A charter school may not discriminate against students based on special education needs. 105 ILCS 5/27A-2(b)(2) and 27A-4(a). It is not clear from the ILVCS Proposal if the ILVCS@FRV Charter School will meet the needs of special education students. The ILVCS Proposal lacks a continuum of services to meet the educational needs of all special education students as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is not clear how the Charter School will identify students with special needs and serve such student needs using an online format. The proposal also states that requests for an evaluation should be made in writing to the Special Education Director, that the school will use a three-tiered Response to Intervention (RTI) process, and all students will be served appropriately based on their placement within these tiers. The proposal’s reference to RTI in the context of its evaluation process suggests that the school may use RTI to delay the evaluation process for students who are otherwise required to be evaluated under federal and State law. In addition, VLS and K12 representatives were unable to answer any of the School District administration’s questions regarding special education during the public hearing. This displays an alarming lack of awareness on the part of VLS and K12 regarding special education matters. Further, the home based nature of the program makes it virtually impossible to implement specialized services for disabled students as required by IDEA.

Homeless Students

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The ILVCS Proposal does not address how the Charter School will address the unique needs of homeless students or ensure that homeless students are not deprived of their rights.

5. The Proposal does not contain information on how VLS will comply with Illinois law requirements on school days and hours of operation-105 ILCS 27A-7(a)(5) and (a)(7). The ILVCS Proposal provides no evidence of how it will assure student attendance. It also does not specify the number of instructional hours it will provide or any set times when teachers or administrators will be available to students.

6. The evaluation of students is suspect-105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(8) . The ILVCS Proposal and testimony established that K12 has a policy of grading based on the last test taken. This is a highly suspect method for evaluating student performance.

7. There is no evidence of economic soundness for the both the Charter School and the School District-105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(9). Under Section 27A-7(a)(9) of the Charter Schools Law, a charter school proposal must contain evidence that the charter terms “are economically sound for both the charter school and the school district.” 105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(9). The ILVCS Proposal fails to meet this requirement and does not contain any analysis or evidence of the economic soundness of the terms of the ILVCS Proposal for both the ILVCS@FRV Charter School and the School District. [105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(9)]. With no evidence of public support, it is difficult to ascertain how the Charter School will be able to sustain itself. On the other hand, with no maximum student requirements, if the Charter School is inundated with students, the fiscal impact could be devastating to the School District. The budget provided in the ILVCS Proposal is at best vague. Further, VLS and K12 were unable to answer the School District’s specific budget questions at the hearing. The Board cannot in good conscience approve such a proposal with such a paucity of information. In addition, VLS is requesting an average of $8,000 per student which equates to 84% of the per capita student tuition. With no building necessary for students, however, it is unclear why VLS would need that amount to educate its students. The School District administration estimates that a total of $7,013.00 per student is required to provide a virtual learning program based upon the School District’s 2012 fiscal year per capita tuition. The Board is very concerned that the additional dollars requested are not to serve students, but instead to serve K12’s bottom line and shareholders. In addition, VLS has no protocols in place to ensure that the School District will be reimbursed for initial tuition payments if a student starts at ILVCS@FRV Charter School, but then drops out mid-year.

8. The governance and operation of the Charter School is unclear-105 ILCS 5/27A- 7(a)(10). A charter school proposal must provide a description of the governance and operation of the charter school. 105 ILCS 5/27A-7(10). The ILVCS Proposal is vague regarding its governance structure. Testimony at the public hearing did not clarify the structure. VLS, an Illinois non-for-profit corporation, has been established to serve as the governing board of the ILVCS@FRV Charter School. VLS has no prior experience in school operations. The ILVCS Proposal provides no corporate by-laws regarding its structure. There is no detail on the leadership team’s relevant qualifications to be

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effective stewards of a charter school or serve the prospective students. It is not clear how that entity is structured, when it will hold meetings, or if it understands that it will be subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act or the Freedom of Information Act. Further, it appears that K12 will do most of the hiring, including the Head of the School, other key administrators, and potentially the teaching staff. K12, however, as a private Virginia corporation, will not be subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act or the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Further, it is not clear whether VLS or K12 will have authority over finances. Moreover, the proposal refers to the “ILVCS Board” without clarifying whether this is the same Board as the VLS Board that will serve as the governing board of ILVCS. The shared services agreement defines the “Board” as the Board of Trustees of VLS that governs the school, while the proposal states that parents “can” be encouraged to serve on the ILVCS Board. The proposal does not, however, explain how such elections or Board opportunities will come about, or whether serving on the “ILVCS Board” will also result in the parent serving on the VLS Board. In short, a review of the proposal and the testimony provided at the public hearing only create a sense of confusion regarding which entity is actually governing the ILVCS@FRV Charter School.

9. The employee structure is concerning-105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(11) . The Board has significant concerns regarding the relationship that will exist between VLS and employees of the ILVCS@FRV Charter School. According to the proposal and testimony, all significant administrators and teachers will be employees of K12, a for profit entity, and not VLS. Therefore, VLS presumably will be unable to evaluate, discipline, promote, or terminate employees without working through a third party vendor. This structure will not allow VLS direct control over its own school. This runs contrary to the intent of the Charter Schools Law of granting authority to discrete non-profit entities to administer a school. 105 ILCS 5/27A-5.

10. The Proposal contains no agreement between the parties regarding their respective liabilities and the Proposal contains inadequate insurance amounts-105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(12). In violation of Section 27A-7(a)(12), the ILVCS Proposal does not include an agreement between the parties regarding their respective legal liability. This is especially concerning considering that the ILVCS Proposal calls for students and teachers to meet in various “public” places such as libraries, parks, or business establishments such as Starbucks. This meeting will require students and parents to drive to various locations for potentially significant distances given the proposed area of the ILVCS@FRV Charter School. The public locations for offline services may be considered an extension of the school, creating liability for the Charter School and potentially the School District. The ILVCS Proposal also does not specify whether such “public locations” will be situated near where the students live, or if the location must be mutually agreeable to both the parent and the teacher. Further, the proposed insurance levels contained in the proposal are inadequate considering the number of students the VLS Charter School intends on serving and the potential liability VLS will incur by requiring students, teachers, and learning coaches to participate in off-line activities, which will require driving significant distances.

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11. Student transportation needs will not be met-105 ILCS 5/27A-7(a)(13). Under Section 27A-7(a)(13) of the Charter Schools Law, a charter school proposal must contain a description of how the charter school plans to meet the transportation needs of the students, including a plan to address the transportation of low-income and at-risk students. The ILVCS Proposal states that transportation will not be provided except in accordance with a student’s IEP (p. 64 of the ILVCS Proposal). The ILVCS Proposal does not contemplate transportation for low-income students. The ILVCS Proposal, however, does provide that there will be offline activities that would require transportation. Given the geographic span of the area to be served by the ILVCS@FRV Charter School and the lack of practical public transportation covering that area, some students will be excluded from certain required offline activities if they do not have access to their own transportation. Therefore, VLS fails to fully articulate a plan for meeting students’ transportation needs as is required by the Charter Schools Law. See Champaign-Urbana; see In the Matter of the Charter School Proposal to Establish the Sin Fronteras Public Charter School, No. 98-10 (Apr. 8, 1999, State of Illinois Superintendent of Education, State Board of Education Appeal Panel). By not providing transportation, VLS is excluding low-income students and other students without access to a vehicle in violation of Section 27A-4(d) of the Charter Schools Law, which requires that a charter school be open to all students in the geographic boundaries of the area. Although VLS and K12 emphasized that they will attempt to hire teachers that reside in the Fox River Valley, the teachers could reside anywhere in the State of Illinois. If it is essential for a student to meet with a teacher, it may be impractical if the teacher and student do not live in proximity to one another. Further, to meet, the student and teacher may have to drive significant distances increasing safety concerns.

12. The ILVCS@FRV Charter School school year begins too early-105 ILCS 27A-7(a)(14). Section 27A-7(a)(14) provides that the first day of the first academic year shall be no earlier than August 15. In violation of this provision, the ILVCS Proposal provides that the first date for classes will be August 14.

B. There is no evidence of public support for the ILVCS Proposal-105 ILCS 5/27A-8. The Charter Schools Law requires that a proposal for a new charter school contain “evidence of sufficient support to fill the number of pupil seats set forth in the Charter School Proposal . . . as demonstrated by a petition in support of the charter school signed by parents and guardians of students eligible to attend the charter school.” 105 ILCS 5/27A-8(b). Section 27A-8(b) provides further that, in lieu of submitting a petition with its proposal, the charter school proponents may submit other evidence establishing sufficient support to fill the number of pupil seats proposed for the charter school at the board’s public meeting. The ILVCS Proposal provides no petition or any other evidence of support. Further, no one from the public spoke in support of the ILVCS Proposal. At the public hearing, the VLS and K12 representative referred to inquiries related to K12’s program, but provided no evidence of support. The only members of the public that spoke at the public hearing were opposed to the ILVCS Proposal. There is no indication that there is any support in the School District community for the ILVCS Proposal or for this type of tax payer funded charter school.

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C. The Board may not approve for-profit charter schools-105 ILCS 5/27A-5(a). Section 27A-5(a) requires that charter schools be non-profit schools. The Board has serious concerns that the ILVCS@FRV Charter School will in essence act as a de facto for profit school within the K12 portfolio. As stated above, the entire education program for the ILVCS@FRV Charter School will be run by K12, a for profit entity. K12 is providing all materials, administering all educational programs, hiring the administrators, and hiring the teachers. All education professionals serving the ILVCS@FRV Charter School will be employees of K12 and will have an inherent conflict in providing unbiased advice to the VLS Board regarding its most significant third party vendor. The draft contract between VLS and K12 is for a ten year term, and VLS has limited early termination rights. Even if VLS terminated its agreement with K12, , the ILVCS@FRV Charter School would have no ability to function without K12 given the level of K12’s involvement. VLS, by its own admission, has no experience with charter schools and appears to be providing no additional support other than hiring K12. It appears that VLS’ only purpose is to apply for the charter in order to create the appearance that the ILVCS@FRV Charter School is non-profit. K12’s for profit status is concerning as it is positioned to reap significant revenues from the charter school, where the source of revenues is tax dollars. It is difficult to fathom why a charter school that will not have a building to serve students requires 80-84% of the per capita student tuition to run its program. The only explanation is that K12 stands to gain a substantial profit. Another concern is that Section 8.3 of the proposed agreement between VLS and K12 empowers K12 to charge interest for late payments that exceed the permissible interest charges that may be assessed against School Districts pursuant to the Illinois Local Government Prompt Payment Act. 50 ILCS 505/4. During the public hearing, VLS and K12 were unable to answer these concerns. VLS claimed that its relationship with K12 was not a “done deal”. Significantly, however, VLS also stated that it did not bid or contact any other provider for services. Even more unusual, a K12 representative had primary presentation responsibilities at the public hearing and attempted to answer most of the questions. This unusual arrangement of allowing a third party vendor to present on behalf of the applicant leads the Board to conclude that K12’s relationship to the ILVCS@FRV Charter School crosses the line from a mere third party vendor to the primary beneficiary of the charter, creating a for profit charter school. The Charter Schools Law prohibits the Board from approving such an entity.

D. The Board may not approve home-based charter schools-105 ILCS 5/27A-5. Section 27A-5(a) requires that charter schools be non-home based schools. The Board has serious concerns that the ILVCS@FRV Charter School is a home based school. While there are some off-line programs, nearly all educational programming will occur at a student’s home through virtual learning with the required assistance of an at-home learning coach. Further, the ILVCS Proposal provides that students will not need a school building, but will study in public libraries, community centers, homes, and other locations of their choosing. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “based” as “a center of organization, supply, or activity; headquarters.” It appears from the ILVCS Proposal, the base of operations for these students will be their home. This is where they will receive their materials, where they will attend class, where they will take tests, and participate in most activities. All offline programs appear to be ancillary to the home-based virtual education students will receive and will be held at random public locations. While VLS claims there will be an administration building, there was no indication that the building will serve any purpose other than as an office for K12 administrators. No classes will be conducted at the administration building and there is no required classroom

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period at the administration building. It appears that it will be unnecessary for ILVCS@FRV students to use the building. And, K12’s base of operations, where it creates its materials and programs, is located in Virginia. VLS and K12 representatives during the public hearing were unable to provide adequate answers as to how the ILVCS@FRV Charter School is not a home-based school. Therefore, the Board concludes that the ILVCS Proposal requests approval of a home-based school, which the Board has no authority to approve.

E. The ILVCS Proposal is not in the best interest of students.

For all of the reasons provided above, the Board finds that the ILVCS Proposal is not in the best interest of the School District’s students. Further, in reviewing current School District offerings, it does not appear that the ILVCS@FRV Charter School would serve any unmet need. Besides the fact that there appears to be no public support for the Charter School, the School District already has a virtual educational program for students that meets some of the concerns voiced by VLS and K12 (i.e. advanced students, students with special needs, or students with unique schedules). As the materials provide, the Charter School’s offerings pale in comparison.

In addition, the Board has grave concerns awarding a charter to an organization that prepared a proposal that contains blatant omissions, contains provisions that violate Illinois law, and was woefully unprepared to answer the Board’s and School District administration’s straight forward questions at the public hearing. VLS’ and K12’s lack of preparation place the School District in an untenable position given its obligation to thoroughly review the ILVCS Proposal and rule on it in a timely manner. VLS’ and K12’s actions and inactions at worst display a shocking indifference for the process. At best, its actions and inactions exhibit an organization that is not prepared to take on the task of educating children and acting as a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars. The School District trusts that the Illinois State Board of Education and the Charter School Commission will take VLS’ and K12’s actions and inactions during the proposal and public meeting portion of the process into consideration when considering any appeal to the School District’s decision to deny the ILVCS Proposal.

Finally, even if the ILVCS Proposal complied with law and met all of the other concerns raised in this Resolution and during the public hearing, the Board questions if a virtual school is in the best interest of students. An essential aspect of education is face to face interaction and socialization. Enhancing a student’s emotional intelligence is as significant to the mission of a public school as enhancing academic success. This is especially true for elementary school students. Families that are dissatisfied with the educational programs provided by the School District have numerous other options, including home schooling their students and utilizing K12 like programs to which they may devote their own resources. While virtual learning as an aspect of a student’s educational program may be appropriate in certain circumstances, the Board is leery of devoting tax payer dollars to a virtual schooling program conducted in the isolated environs of

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a student’s home. This position appears to reflect the consensus of the School District’s community considering that not one School District resident spoke in favor of the ILVCS Proposal.

F. Additional Rationale. Other concerns and deficiencies regarding the operational and educational aspects of the ILVCS Proposal were identified and discussed by members of the Board and administration during the public hearing. Other rationale are contained in the report of denial required by Section 27A-8(f) of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-8(f)] and Section 650.30(c) of the State Board of Education’s Rules on Charter Schools [23 Ill. Admin. Code § 650.30(c)].

Section 4. The Board of Education’s officers and attorneys are hereby authorized and

directed to perform such actions and to prepare and execute necessary documents to effectuate

under law the denial of the ILVCS Proposal, including, but not limited to, the report of denial

required by Section 27A-8(f) of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-8(f)] and Section

650.30(c) of the State Board of Education’s Rules on Charter Schools [23 Ill. Admin. Code §

650.30(c)].

Section 5. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its

passage.

The Resolution was moved by Member __________________ and seconded by Member

____________________ and, upon roll call, was adopted by a majority of the members of the

Board of Education voting as follows:

AYES:

NAYS:

ABSENT:

Adopted April __, 2013.

___________________________President, Board of Education

ATTEST: ___________________________ Secretary, Board of Education

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