Sullivan County online school program to grow from 50 to 200

BLOUNTVILLE — As the old saying goes, sometimes you have to spend money to make money.For a local school system, for the 2025-26 fiscal year that could include spending money to expand an online school program and begin a day care program.The online school expansion will generate revenues by keeping students from going out of the school system, school system officials said.And the paid day care, also open to the public if space allows, also would generate more revenue that expenses, according to school system officials.MORE STUDENTS, MORE EXPENSE, MORE REVENUE?The proposed 2025-26 Sullivan County Schools General Fund Budget, reviewed Wednesday in a work session by the seven-member Board of Education, includes an extra $490,000 to expand the online program from 50 to 200 students, including the hiring of a new part-time 120-days-per-year employee to help handle the additional students.Brent Palmer, supervisor of secondary education for the school system, said that he and two others in Central Office have been managing the program that began with the 2024-25 school year. The Pearson contract costs a little less than $3,000 per student.It uses Pearson teachers for online instruction, and some students come into a school building for things like hands-on career technical courses. It serves students in grades 6-12, but the program for 2025-26 plans to add grades 4-5.Palmer said going any lower is not advisable, since those first four years are crucial for literacy and transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn.Each student not already in the system or remaining the system generates than $7,000 in annual state funding, which can balloon to $12,000 or more based on outcomes, career technical programs and other things than enhance state revenue per student.Palmer said half of the 50 are new to Sullivan County Schools this year, and estimated that going to 200 would add 75 to 100 in average daily membership used to determine some funding.WAITING LISTA formal waiting list of about 20 remains for this year's program, and Palmer said a few on the list earlier in the school year got to fill about 10 slots that came open. However, he said many other parents called about slots but didn't formally get on the list.He said a survey of parents with students in this year's program found all planned to return to the program or transition to all or partial in-person learning.As for potential students, Palmer said quite a few parents who call say if their students can't get in for 2025-26, their student will enroll in D-B EXCEL, the Kingsport City Schools alternative learning high school smaller than Dobyns-Benentt High School.He said other options for parents include other online schools, homeschooling or private schools.School board Vice Chairman Michael Hughes said the online program can actually make more money for the school system than it costs since each student who enrolls receives state funding.Director of Schools Chuck Carter said otherwise, quite a few of the online students would go to a different system or things such as homeschooling or private schools.The online students, either coming from existing county schools or outside the system, remain attached to the school for which they otherwise would be zoned.Board member Mark Vicars of Kingsport, a teacher in neighboring Hawkins County, asked if those schools couldn't take some of the work load of the additional 150 students next school year.Palmer responded that would not work well because of the special issues online students might have. In addition, Palmer said creating a separate school number for the online school program would create more bureaucracy across multiple grade levels at multiple schools.DAY CARE PROJECT HITS BUMP, STILL PLANNEDMeanwhile, plans are still underway to open two day care facilities serving mostly children of school system employees, one at Sullivan Heights Middle School and the other at Sullivan East High School.Carter told the board the Department of Human Services has approved the Sullivan Heights site and is working with the East site to alleviate concerns about the close proximity of a cosmetology classroom where chemicals are used.In addition, he said that with the help of school board attorney Chris McCarty of Knoxville, instead of the county school system operating the child care center for ages 0-4, the YMCA would operate the center.Since the Department of Human Services licenses the centers, not the Department of Education, Carter said the county does not fit into any category of DHS child care center operators.Since the YMCA already operates after school programs in the county school system, Carter said leaders there are "very excited" about the opportunity.In addition, Carter said the various state and federal grants available for the program still can be sought, and that the YMCA can provide work-based learning slots for county high school students interested in a child care career.The County Commission earlier this year approved a school board request to spend $170,000 in unrestricted fund balance to jump start the program with facilities work to accommodate the two child care center, money the system hopes to recoup from a grant.