Nearly one-quarter of Boyle County students will be attending school virtually this fall. 

The Boyle County Board of Education approved a synchronous hybrid plan for the start of the school year that would allow parents/guardians to choose whether their children would attend school in a physical school building or virtually through an online academy. 

Amy Bugg, a spokesperson for the Boyle County School District, said on Monday that, based off the responses they’ve received so far, nearly one-in-four students will attend school online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The district was asking for every parent/guardian to submit their preference to the school district by Friday, July 24. 

As of Monday afternoon, the district had received 2,475 responses to the survey out of projected total district enrollment of 2,560. If the percentages hold true as the last responses come in, that would mean nearly 640 students would be enrolled in the virtual academy to start the school year.

Boyle County Schools Superintendent Mike LaFavers said this virtual school option goes much further than Non-Traditional Instruction, or NTI, that the district has used in the past.

“We want this to feel like the physical school building to the greatest extent possible,” LaFavers said. “We want this to mirror the physical school building in terms of time, curriculum, assessments, and teacher interaction. We don’t want the burden to feel like it is on the parent. We want it to really feel like you’re at school.” 

The virtual school option will be broken up into two semesters and parents/students will have the option to choose if they want to be involved in it for the first semester, the second semester, both, or neither. 

Requests to transfer to/from the virtual school can be made at any time, however, but those requests will have to be approved by an administrator if made outside of the commitment date. 

Students enrolling in the virtual school will be asked to sign a contract that guarantees a commitment to “complete assignments, attend daily virtual lessons, and participate in virtual school activities.” 

The schedule will mirror the start/end times of the physical school and attendance as well as participation will be monitored daily. 

Parents/guardians who have not yet filled out the survey regarding the opening of school can do so by visiting the district’s website and clicking on the “Healthy At School” tab. 

The Boyle County Board of Education will be holding a virtual meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to further discuss the beginning of the school year. The meeting can be accessed via YouTube at https://youtu.be/KwBfxtAD3Hs

The first day of classes for the Boyle County School District is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26.