April 13, 2021–9:10 p.m.
STAFF REPORTS
The Rome Board of Education voted last night to establish a virtual learning academy for the 2021-2022 school year.
Superintendent Lou Byars said 8% of the 1,700 parents who responded to a survey indicated that they wanted their child to take virtual classes.
Byars explained how the classes will work for parents who choose virtual learning for their child.
“The plan for K through 8 is to have one class of students per grade level,” he said. “They will be there for the entire year. That will be a requirement. K through 8 will be taught by Rome City School System personnel, and there will be live classes each day. Grades 9 through 12 will be a little different. The students will register through Georgia Virtual School which provides most of the courses that we already offer at Rome High School.”
The 9th through 12th-grade students will still be able to participate in extracurricular activities and will still be considered graduates of Rome High School.
“Some days they will be on live with a teacher and some days they will work independently based on how the curriculum is set up for that course,” Byars added. “They do have a teacher assigned to them and they will be checking in periodically and they follow a curriculum to meet the standards of Georgia.”
Applications for the Rome Virtual Learning Academy will go online Monday.