Charter School Plan to Go Before Naperville District 203 Board

By Shannon Antinori

Before a company that wants to bring a virtual charter school to Naperville goes before the District 203 school board, a public hearing on the proposal will be held March 18.

K12, a for-profit charter school company, is the subject of controversy after Nashville-based NBC report published emails from one of its vice principals urging teachers to delete failing grades.

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Now, the same company is proposing to start an online charter school called Virtual Learning Solutions in Naperville's District 203 as well as other area schools.

A public hearing on the plan is set for 5 p.m. Monday, March 18, before the District 203 Board of Education meeting at the administration center, 203 W. Hillside Rd., according to District 203.

The NBC-5 report alleges that staff one of the company’s Nashville-area schools, Tennessee Virtual Academy, urged teachers to delete failing progress reports from September and October, writing, “After ... looking at so many failing grades, we need to make some changes before the holiday.” The email goes on to ask teachers to “delete it so that all that is showing is November progress."

Read: Charter School Controversy: K12 Disputes Reports of Grade Tampering

K12 also has its sights set on several other Chicago-area communities, with proposals to start virtual charter schools in districts including Valley View School District, Oswego School District 308 and Plainfield District 202.

Randall Greenway, K12's vice president of School Development, said Tuesday afternoon that the story was inaccurate and contained a number of false claims.

"It was quickly and completely debunked by the school and its teachers," he said. "One of the TNVA teachers, speaking on behalf of her fellow teachers at the school, responded in the media" via this article in the Knoxville News Sentinel. 

The teachers also spoke before the Tennessee legislature and "directly countered these false claims," Greenway said.

You can read a full response from TNVA administrators here.