School officials: Cyber schools impact budgets

HUGHESVILLE - Administrators at East Lycoming and Muncy school districts are hoping cost containment measures for cyber schools will be approved by the state Legislature soon. Their budgets are depending on it.

Cyber schools are paid for by district taxpayers and allow students from kindergarten through 12th grades to learn from a computer at home.

"It's impacting the budget," said East Lycoming School District business manager David Maciejewski.

"It's all taxpayer money that districts must pay," said David Edkin, business manager at Muncy School District.

Edkin's district pays $9,600 for cyber school education of basic education students and $16,000 for special education students.

"We virtually doubled in one year with the district budgeting $80,000," he said.

Non-traditional, non-brick-and-mortar methods of education are occurring at an alarming rate, according to the administrators.

"It's up to the $1 million mark in the county," Bigger said in a briefing to school board members Tuesday after visiting with Pennsylvania School Board Association about possible cost containment solutions.

"Our interest is a cost-containment issue," confirmed David Slater, a spokesman with the association. He said state Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Allentown, introduced a bill with a goal to set a statewide tuition rate for cyber schools.

A wide disparity in cost exists, Slater said.

Reading School District, for example, pays $5,400 for cyber education, while Jenkintown pays $15,000 per cyber school student, Slater said.

East Lycoming School District has budgeted $180,000 for the cyber school expenses, Maciejewski said. Bigger said 21 students now enrolled could easily become 41.

"We're going to have costs to meet," she said.

Whenever a student in East Lycoming School District wants to join a cyber school officials are recommending the parents sign up with a system known as VLink, a consortium school offered through the Intermediate Unit 17. Bigger said. That cyber school is run at cost whereas other independent cyber schools pay the tuition.

"The cost using VLink is a matter of paying $3,500 versus $8,000 to $12,000," Bigger said.

The financial managers at the school districts agree the cyber schools impact budgets and this is happening at the worst of times: School districts are facing pressures to reduce staff, cut back on projects and look toward reserving some cash for the projected spike in 2012-13 should nothing be done about the local contribution to fund the Pennsylvania Educators Retirement System.

"Brick and mortar schools' costs to educate a student include food service, transportation and extra-curriculars," Edkin said.

"Cyber school costs entail instruction, Internet linkage and a computer."

Attempts to speak to a West Chester cyber school representative about how it plans to comply with any future tuition rate changes enacted by the Legislature were not immediately successful.