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Last updated on Thursday, December 4, 2014
(STATEHOUSE) - The State Board of Education will take more time before deciding whether more schools might be able to take advantage of using the web to help avoid snow make-up days.
The board asked the Department of Education to gather more data on the use of e-learning before the next State Board meeting on January 7th. The board also asked lawyers in state Superintendent Glenda Ritz's office to deliver what they believe is the legal authority for Ritz to authorize e-learning in lieu of make-up days, while board members will consult their own lawyers and ask the governor's office for potential action from the legislature.
The board got involved after one school district - the Twin Lakes School Corporation - announced last month that the Department of Education would allow them to use e-learning days instead of adding days to the school calendar in the event of winter weather.
Some board members, including Brad Oliver, wondered if learning online was an effective replacement for a classroom day, and Oliver also wonders whether Ritz had the authority to authorize additional e-learning days.
"We are expanding the scope and the use of e-learning, and all I am saying is that because we are expanding its use and applying it to a situation it has never been applied to, I think we need some help from the legislature in terms of what they'd like to see happen," Oliver said.
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