Cascade School District Will Have Full-Time In-Person & Other Enrollment Options

The unusual emergency presented by the COVID-19 pandemic last year required schools and families to make reactionary decisions. Schools had to balance the health safety of students, staff and the greater community with students’ needs for consistent education and all the support systems that go along with it. Families had their personal situations to consider, which varied widely.

Thankfully, Cascade School District (CSD), with input from families, offered a myriad of evolving choices. “Over the past year, families had to make a multitude of decisions about their children’s learning,” said Tracey Beckendorf-Edou. “Some homeschooled their children. Some enrolled their children in Kodiak Virtual Academy (KVA). Some put their children in another district. Some had their children enrolled with us remotely all year. Some had their children in our Home Link program. Some kept their children in our main campuses and rolled with the changes that occurred.”

Now that the 2021-2022 school year is being planned as full-time, in-person again, the remote or hybrid options will no longer exist. Families can still choose KVA or Home Link.

For the majority, returning to the buildings full-time will be beneficial, and CSD is prepared to meet all students where they’re at. With an increase in intervention specialist staff at all levels, the schools will be able to identify and take action on learning gaps that students might have.

CSD would love to see enrollment numbers return to a level similar to pre-pandemic, around 1300 FTE, however they’re budgeting for only 1132. CSD doesn’t have to make budget cuts or reduce staff yet because they can utilize portions of the ESSER federal funds for the next few years until there’s the anticipated rise back to higher enrollment numbers.

Students who enroll in KVA are still considered full-time, but the district pays service-provider fees per student. Katie Schmitten, the district’s KVA advisor, explained how the program works. “Students’ teachers are not teachers within our school district. Thus, students are responsible for building that relationship with their online teachers by contacting them if or when they’re struggling, or contacting me if they’re needing assistance. Overall, our students have all been great at doing this.”

This year there were 23 students enrolled in KVA either partially or completely in grades 6-12, which is done in partnership with APEX Learning and BYU Independent Study. EdGenuity provides the coursework for K-5, though no younger students participated in KVA this year.

While the district is only budgeting for seven fulltime KVA students next year, they consider this a necessary choice. “Making sure we are providing options for families that may want to continue remote learning until they might be ready to return to the classroom is our main goal with KVA, “said Dwight Remick, CSD business manager.

Home Link grew substantially last year, with K-3^rd grade enrollment about 40, and 4^th-8^th grade at about 37. Home Link involves varying amounts of homeschooling, so each student is set to an FTE equivalent of .8.

Given the challenges of indoor education during the pandemic, Home Link was a great solution for many families. “Our outdoor learning courses and online courses received rave reviews,” said Terry Muscutt, Home Link principal. “We invite community members to assist with some courses, and those are quite popular. Next year will certainly be different, but we aim to be out in the community or invite experts in as much as possible. I expect to use Ski Hill, Sleeping Lady, Barn Beach, and any other community locations that are willing to host!”

For those families that have the flexibility and desire to be highly involved in their children’s education, Home Link will continue to be their choice. “Our program offers a flexible schedule, support for at-home learning, and cooperative enrichment activities that may not be available at home,” explained Muscutt.

Canuche Terranella, parent of a current 3^rd and 6^th grader, shared his family’s perspective on the choices they made this year and next. “At the end of the spring 2020 we just wanted to have control over something in our family's life. It seemed like the best solution was to take charge of our children's education and know where they would be from week to week [homeschooling and in Home Link] instead of doing the yo-yo of in-school/Zoom School/in-school that we expected during COVID. Now that next year is planned to be all in-person, we're happy to send the kids back to Alpine Lakes and IRMS in the fall.”