OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A week after the start of the school year there are 200 students in Osceola County on a waitlist to participate in Osceola Virtual School, according to the school district.
Denise Ortiz said her 10-year-old son Adrien is one of those students.
“It’s been very frustrating and disappointing,” said Ortiz.
She said she did everything right, making sure her son met all the requirements and submitting his application before the deadline, but he still ended up on the waitlist.
“That’s one of my concerns, that he’s going to fall behind because school already started,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz said sending her son to a brick-and-mortar school isn’t the best option for them right now.
“My son has asthma, and I don’t want to put him at risk. My immune system is compromised as it is. I was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer and I’m getting treatment and have a surgery coming up,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz said she applied to both Florida Virtual School and Florida Cyber Charter Academy and both are slammed, telling her, it could take several weeks to get her son in those programs. With cancer treatment and surgery, she said homeschooling isn’t an option either.
“They need to find a solution to help us and to reach out to us, so our kids can start learning because it’s their right to have an education and that’s not being provided to them,” said Ortiz.
School district Superintendent Debra Pace spoke about the waitlist during Tuesday evening’s school board meeting. She said there are 430 students enrolled in the virtual school from Kindergarten to 12th grade in Osceola County.
“We do have a waiting list and I know that’s causing some frustration for some of our parents,” Pace said.
Enrollment for Osceola Virtual School closed July 16 but was reopened for a short time and the remaining seats quickly filled up. As the final spots were filled students were added to the waiting list, according to the district.
[TRENDING: Daytona officer dies after June shooting | See Spaceship Earth in new light | When’s next rocket launch in Fla.?]
Part of the reason for the waitlist, Pace explained, is due to hiring teachers and training them, both of which take time.
“It’s not as easy in the virtual school program to just hire another teacher and launch a new class,” Pace said. “There’s pretty significant training that’s required to help make that happen as well as processing, not just through our onboarding systems but through Florida Virtual School.”
The July 16 deadline was set so that teachers could be hired and attend the one-week training with Florida Virtual School, Osceola County Public School spokeswoman Dana Schafer wrote via email.
Students also must have 18 weeks to complete their course for full credit.
“Teachers at OVS still have to maintain a reasonable class load so that they can best assist students,” Schafer wrote.
Families should learn this Friday if there are any openings, according to the school district. If the students are not enrolled in a Osceola Virtual School class, they won’t be able to enroll until next semester, which begins in January, according to the district.
The next Osceola Virtual School enrollment period opens at the end of October for the spring semester.
The school board approved a mask mandate during Tuesday’s meeting for kindergarten through 8th-grade students. Students can forgo wearing a mask if they bring a note from a parent or guardian. Masks remain optional for high school students.