Updated June 18 with the application link

Great Falls Public Schools is rolling out an online school program to expand options for homeschool students and those who can’t be in school for various reasons.

During COVID, the district invested in Engenuity, an online platform, as a credit recovery for students.

The program was used at Paris Gibson Education Center and this year, C.M. Russell High School piloted the platform.

During a March work session, Lance Boyd and Jackie Mainwaring, assistant superintendents, told school board members about their plan to expand use of the platform, offering options for homeschool students, which also helps increase the district’s Average Number Belonging, or ANB, which is essentially an enrollment count.

The ANB counts are done in October and February and those numbers are used by the Montana Office of Public Instruction to determine funding levels.

Boyd said that often, students will drop out, re-enroll for the first count, but leave by the second count.

He said if the district doesn’t adapt to that reality in innovative ways, they’ll continue losing students at the secondary level.

Mainwaring said those students get so far behind, it’s hard for them to catch up and Boyd said they have hard conversations with those students and families that the likelihood of graduation is low.

Over the last two years, the district lost 416 students, some to homeschooling, but not all, Boyd told The Electric during a June 4 interview.

In March, Boyd told the board there were about 466 students considered homeschooled in the community, a number that’s been growing by about 85 a year.

Boyd said that in discussions with homeschool families, they asked if they’d be interested in a credit bearing free platform for secondary education.

During the March work session, 73 percent said yes, and the survey was open a few more days, Boyd said.

Typically, about six homeschool families return those surveys annually, Boyd said, so the large response demonstrated that families were looking for ways to re-engage with GFPS.

The district also sees students, who for various reasons, show up to school for electives, but not their core classes, which are required for graduation.

Boyd told the board in March that they’d identified those core classes such as English, math and social students.

Those teachers will have a four period day then for their fifth period, be available for remote instruction through Engenuity to engage with participating students and monitor their progress.

In March, Boyd told the board that platforms like Engenuity aren’t cheap and it was “really scary” from his seat.

During the March work session, district officials said that the cost was about $900 per license, but those could be shared across students since they weren’t accessing the platform at the same time.

Boyd said at the time, they were looking at 75 licenses over three years at a cost of $206,000 but were trying to get the cost under $200,000.

To roll out the program for more students, including homeschoolers, Boyd told The Electric on June 4 that they added additional licenses for $71,000 annually, bringing the total to 100 licenses.

In May, Superintendent Heather Hoyer told the board that in conversations, some parents were looking for fiscally responsible ways to homeschool their children, but also keep them on pace with their peers and state requirements.

The program is accredited so if homeschool students want to come back to GFPS for junior or senior year, the classes will transfer, officials said.

Hoyer said GFPS’ goal is to accommodate up to 100 students, with five teachers at each of the grades 7-12.

She said the district already has a similar process in place at the high school level for credit recovery.

When it’s applicable, those students can have a hybrid schedule to take electives on campus if they’re not offered on Engenuity, she said.

Boyd told The Electric in a June 4 interview that students enrolled in a minimum of two periods count for 0.25 ANB.

The more enrollment GFPS has, it helps support the general fund, particularly for secondary, where Boyd said the district is starting to see a significant decline.

Boyd said the district’s goal is to enroll 40-50 students through the Engenuity program and at that level, the funds they recoup through state ANB funding will pay for the program annually.

The district has posted the online school application link here. From there, those families will go through an interview process with their school administration team to determine if it’s a good fit.

“Online learning is a fit for some, but not everyone,” Boyd said.

The program includes checkpoints along the way, allowing teachers to make timely contacts if a student is absent or struggling, Boyd said.

Many teenages have part-time jobs  so Edgentuity also offers them a varied schedule to complete their coursework, Boyd said, as well as for those with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues that limit their ability to learn in large classrooms.

He said some students with anxiety or other mental health limitations can’t learn in an English class of 30 students, but can manage smaller class sizes for electives.

It gives all of those students a pathway to graduation as long as they meet state and district requirements, Boyd said.

Not all credits will be available online, such as electives, Boyd said. Students can still use the state platform, Montana Digital Academy, for higher learning options.

The program will also be used with the Restart program and students who aren’t able to attend school in person for safety reasons, such as those excluded from school due to behavioral or criminal behaviors.

Students and parents in the program will have to sign a contract to provide accountability and students who aren’t producing in their online classes will have to come back to school in person, Boyd said.

In March, Boyd told the board that they’d look at building interest in the community and north central Montana.

Hamilton Public Schools launched a similar program last year with 100 licenses and has since grown their enrollment by about 300 students, putting them about a year away from becoming AA, Boyd told the board. He said that about 90 percent of students in that program were staying on track.

“We can either choose to be at the forefront, or be behind and have our kids go to other communities,” Boyd said in March.

The district is starting the program with seventh graders since patterns of learning loss, absenteeism, drop outs and mental health don’t start n high school, officials said.

They’ve been working with mental health therapists since, officials said in March, if the district doesn’t address the instructional model, they’re looking at the continued loss of students.

“This will be an undertaking not only for the buildings but the staff as well,” Boyd told the board in March, “because it’s a different way of thinking.”