Board Considers Home School Assistance Program

Board members Shelly Herr and Erik Edgren hear a presentation from Superintendent Russ Reiter

BY HAILEY BROWN

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Education goes far beyond the scope of a classroom and delivery methods are often equally as diverse. Parents may choose to keep students in their given district, open-enroll their students to other districts, look into private instruction, as well as home schooling among other options. Keeping this in mind, Superintendent Russ Reiter gave a presentation during the Jan. 10 Oskaloosa School Board meeting about a potential Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) that the district could offer families that choose to home school.

It’s a program where the district will hire a certified teacher to work with families in our community to assist them in educating their children,” Reiter said in an e-mail after the board meeting. “The school will make classes and activities available to the families.”

Districts are not required to have an HSAP, Reiter said. However, if they do offer the program, districts are required to hire a properly licensed instructor. The instructor then must have contact with each student 4 times per quarter (which are traditionally at-home visits), and the district is obligated to provide appropriate instructional materials.

During the meeting, Reiter said when it came time to vote on the HSAP he would strongly recommend board members approve it. Reiter believes that the short- and long-term benefits are essentially the same:

  1. Offer opportunities to students if they want to take advantage of them. Examples of opportunities include orchestra, vocal music, field trips, use of technology, and high level academic classes. These opportunities will support families and are not meant to be directive or intrusive.
  2. Improve relationships between the district and the home school families in the community. “It’s about offering opportunities to children in our community whether they are home schooled, or educated privately,” he said.

Board member Erik Edgren questioned what benefits such a program would provide the district.

Other than bragging rights that they’re back in our district and that we have the ability to oversee what’s going on a little but not much, it’s not doing anything for the district’s bottom line to do this since we can’t use the funds for other things,” he said.

Board member Carl Drost remarked that the implementation of such a program could entice older students to attend more in-school classes after their families have built solid foundations with the district through the HSAP.

Reiter disclosed the program may cost the district General Fund money the first couple of years, although he said those funds could be re-appropriated back to the account in the long run. On whether there could be potentially negative effects, he remained optimistic.

The only negative that I can think of might be the financial commitment in the short term,” Reiter said. “The district will receive some funds to develop the program and pay for the instructor.”

As far as student development goes, Reiter stressed that the district is available to help and assist what the home schooling parents are currently providing and “we’re looking to enhance the educational opportunities for all kids in our community,” he said.

Board members did not take a vote during the January meeting and will likely revisit the topic for a vote in February after a variety of legislative factors are determined.

During the meeting on Jan. 10, the board also:

  • Heard comments from attendee Lynette Stream, who was disappointed in school board election coverage in the community;
  • Heard a presentation from instructor Kim Gile on the success of the High School Video Production Course;
  • Approved bus specifications and bid solicitation;
  • Approved the purchase of a district vehicle (suburban) for a total cost of $41,281.05;
  • Reviewed progress on board goals;
  • Held a closed session not open to the public for an evaluation

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Oskaloosa School Board will be on Tuesday, February 14 in the George Daily Auditorium Boardroom at 7 p.m. This time and date is subject to change based on board schedules and legislative issues.

Posted by on Jan 11 2017. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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