District eyes expanding online school

The Lake Havasu Unified School District will explore expanding its Havasu Online program by outsourcing some or all of its instruction.

The LHU Governing Board gave the go-ahead for the district to write a request for proposals at a working session Monday. The RFP will be presented for official approval at the board’s next regular meeting, Feb. 12.

The rationale for expanding the online school is that the district could significantly increase its revenue from the program without increasing costs, according to Assistant Superintendent Barb Goodwin, the district’s technology director.

Lake Havasu Unified is one of only seven school districts in the state that has an Arizona Department of Education sanctioned online learning or “technology assisted project-based instruction” program. Seven charter schools also have TAPBI programs.

The district earns $5,000 per student a year from Havasu Online. In 2007, the program had an “average daily membership” of 86 students, resulting in a profit to the district of $160,000, Goodwin said.

Partnering with an online learning company and outsourcing instruction would allow the membership to expand to at least 400 students, Goodwin said. Typically the learning company would get 90 percent of the revenue while assuming all operating costs, leaving the district with $200,000 pure profit from the arrangement, she said.

“Having TAPBI approval, we kind of hold the golden ticket,” Goodwin said.

The district’s RFP would ask for proposals based on partial and full outsourcing. Partial outsourcing would allow the district to keep in place its existing program, which currently employs 15 teachers.

In other business Monday, the board reviewed a major revision of the district’s policy manual. The majority of changes were recommended by the Arizona School Boards Association, said Superintendent Gail Malay.

Such extensive revisions are performed every five to six years to keep the manual up-to-date and in compliance with state and federal regulations, Malay said.

The revised manual will come up for a first presentation before the board at its March 11 meeting.

During a separate special meeting, the board unanimously approved NPG Cable as the sole source provider for leased fiber optic connections between the school sites.

The board also approved a renewed fiber optic lease agreement with NPG Cable that allows the schools to have Internet connectivity.

The existing agreement doesn’t expire until June, but a renewed agreement was required for the district to apply for federal E-rate funding, which offsets the costs of communications for schools.

A measure to approve a new phone system for Starline Elementary School was tabled until the district receives official word of its 2008 E-rate funding levels.

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.

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