General Information on Virtual Charter Schools
Virtual charter schools are charter schools that are full-time and part-time public virtual schools. Students access the curriculum and instruction, and interact with teachers, outside of a traditional school setting, usually from home.
A charter school must submit an application for approval to its sponsor to open a virtual charter school or amend its existing contract. If a charter school submits a new application to its sponsor, the application must include documentation that the applicant has contracted with FLVS or an approved VIP provider. The list of approved providers is located on the following website: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/virtual-edu/provider-resources/approved-providers/.
Yes. A charter school may implement blended-learning courses which combine traditional classroom instruction and virtual instruction. Students in blended-learning courses must be full-time students of the charter school.
Instructional personnel may be employees of the charter school or may be under contract to provide instructional services to charter school students. At a minimum, the instructional personnel must hold a state certificate as required in Section 1012.55, Florida Statutes (F.S.), or a school district adjunct certification under Section 1012.57, F.S., for the subject area of the blended-learning course. Charter school employees must undergo background screenings as provided in Section 1012.32, F.S.
Yes, virtual charter schools are authorized to provide full-time and part-time virtual instruction.
Virtual charter schools may serve students in grades K-12.
Virtual charter schools are funded through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) and the funding is based on ‘successful completions’ rather than on seat time (attendance and enrollment). Virtual charter schools may report Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) for all FEFP funding programs (Basic, ESE, Career Education and ESOL). Like other virtual programs and schools, virtual charter schools may not receive any funding for the purpose of fulfilling class size requirements.
A virtual charter school may offer their students courses beyond 180 days only for the purpose of course completion and credit recovery. Course completion applies only to a student who is reported during the second or third membership surveys and who does not complete a virtual education course by the end of the school year. These courses must be completed and reported by the deadline for amending the final enrollment survey for the year (Survey 4) to receive funding. Credit recovery courses are allow for students who did not pass a traditional or virtual education course during the regular school year and must retake the course to graduate on time. If a student enrolls in the district virtual course but the course is not reported in either Survey 2 or 3, then the course must be completed by the end of the regular 180 day school year.
Virtual charter schools receive school grades based on the performance of their full-time students like other public schools in the district and state; are funded based on successful completions; are school choice options for parents; and must meet performance criteria outlined in their charters with their sponsor.
Yes, charter school students will be provided with a testing location from their district. This may be the student’s zoned school or another testing location within the district.
To become a virtual charter school, the applicant must contract services with Florida Virtual School (FLVS) or a department approved Virtual Instruction Program (VIP) provider. The interested party must submit a virtual charter application using the Model Virtual Charter School application to the school district in which it would like to operate. Documentation of the contract with the VIP approved provider must be included with the application. Virtual charter applicants follow the same timelines for approval as brick and mortar charter school applicants. For recourses on how to open a charter school please visit the following website www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/charter-schools/charter-school-resources/new-applicant/