School boards would have to offer virtual option under bill from Frederick, Montgomery County delegates

Yahoo

08-02-2025

Boards of education in Maryland would be required to offer a virtual option for students of all school levels under a bill proposed by Frederick County Del. April Miller and Montgomery County Del. Joe Vogel.
Vogel, a Democrat, and Miller, a Republican, both represent counties where a virtual education option was cut for some or all public school students during the fiscal year 2025 budget process.
The Frederick County Board of Education in fiscal year 2025 cut the Remote Virtual Program for grades 3 to 5 in an effort to close a $52.8 million gap between the requested and actual budgets for Frederick County Public Schools. The program was cut for first and second grade students in fiscal year 2024.
In Montgomery County last year, the public school system's virtual academy was eliminated for all grade levels in response to a $30 million budget deficit.
Under HB583, all county boards of education would be required to establish one virtual school apiece for the elementary, middle and high school levels.
If a county board determines that it cannot provide a virtual schooling option independently, it would be encouraged to collaborate with other county boards to establish a joint virtual school.
Individual boards of education could determine which students qualify for virtual schooling, but could not 'unduly interfere' with a student's ability to enroll in the virtual option.
Boards would also have to develop an 'equitable outreach campaign' to share information about the virtual option with the public.
In an interview last week, Vogel said he believes every student who can attend a traditional school with the proper accommodations should do so.
'This is for a very limited number of students who absolutely need a program like this to be able to access high-quality education,' he said of the bill.
'Virtual education might not be for everyone,' Miller said in a separate interview. 'But Frederick County and Montgomery County both did a very good job with establishing their virtual schools, especially when it comes to the synchronous learning. ... It was really a learning community for some of these students.'
BOARD VIEWS
Frederick County Board of Education members had mixed reactions to the bill.
In a phone interview on Friday, Jaime Brennan said she could see the advantages of teaming up with other school districts to create a virtual school from both an academic and a cost-saving perspective.
Board member Colt Black said on Friday that the elimination of the RVP for grades 3 through 5 was 'a travesty' and called any effort to support a virtual option 'a good thing.'
Other Frederick County school board members, such as Karen Yoho and Vice President Dean Rose, said they were opposed to the bill.
Yoho said the legislation would require counties to create a virtual program even if no one has asked for one. She added that she is 'always cautious' about requirements that have the potential to become unfunded mandates.
'It's hard to conceive of a way that this would not have financial strings attached to it,' Yoho said in an interview last week.
In an interview on Friday, Rose said he would not support the bill because it could have financial implications for local school boards and remove their ability to decide if and how they offer virtual programming.
Rose said he is particularly opposed to the requirement for elementary school students, who he believes cannot meet their literacy goals through virtual education alone.
Rae Gallagher, the president of the school board, and board members Nancy Allen and Janie Inglis Monier did not respond to requests for comment about the bill.
FCPS Chief of Schools and Accountability Jamie Aliveto wrote in an email last week that the school system's current budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes virtual programming for students in fourth through 12th grades.
Because of this, Aliveto wrote of the bill, 'the impact to us in FCPS would not be significant as compared to a school system that may not have virtual programming at this time.'
'If the bill were to pass, FCPS would seek support with interpretation from our Maryland State Department of Education, as we do with all new legislation,' Aliveto wrote. 'In the event we would be required to expand to more grade levels, it would mean adding teaching positions to our budget.'
In response to concerns about funding, Miller said the bill could actually save school systems money because the cost per student for virtual programming is lower when compared to in-person schooling.
She also said school systems should weigh any financial costs against the harms experienced by students when no virtual option is available to them.
According to Kim Remus, an executive assistant for the FCPS System Accountability and School Administration, the Frederick County Virtual School currently serves 808 high school students. Of those, 265 attend full time.
Additionally, there are currently 124 students enrolled in the RVP for grades six through eight.
'QUIET AND PEACEFUL'
Melissa Medwid has two children in Frederick County Public Schools. One, a 10th grader, is enrolled in the Frederick County Virtual School. The other, a sixth grader, is enrolled in the RVP.
In an interview last week, Medwid said that the Remote Virtual Program to her represents 'kindness that my kids didn't experience in person.'
'There's no focus on bullying, or drills, or fear of something violent happening in the classroom. There's no overcrowding or loud distractions,' Medwid said. 'Everything is really quiet and peaceful and it makes it really easy to learn.'
For her family, Medwid said, Vogel and Miller's bill would provide 'a little bit of security' by guaranteeing that the future of the virtual program would not come into question whenever the school system faces budgetary pressures.
Medwid said she and other parents of children in Frederick County's Remote Virtual Program have been in touch with parents of children who attended Montgomery County's virtual academy.
She said parents of both groups plan to speak in favor of Vogel and Miller's bill during a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee at the state House of Delegates on Wednesday.
Medwid said she is continuing to pursue other avenues to assure her children's continued access to virtual education, including pressuring county officials to include funding for the RVP in the fiscal year 2026 budget and pushing for the RVP to be codified as a school in Frederick County.
'The only thing I've assured my son is that he doesn't have to go back in person,' she said.