To that end, school districts are allowed to charge a fee up to 5 percent from virtual schools for operating costs.
These online schools are managed by large companies like Pearson or Stride that contract with local school boards in the same fashion as a bricks-and-mortar charter school. Thousands of other families ended up finding digital education options elsewhere, namely virtual charter schools or similar programs operated through county school districts, such as Hendry. Meanwhile, some 21,504 students attended online classes created by their local schools, according to Department of Education data from October. The state’s longstanding online K-12 program, Florida Virtual School, saw its student headcount rise by 42,260 students to 91,485 in 2020-21 including franchise agreements with school districts. Ron DeSantis required every district to offer in-person classes. Still, full-time virtual school enrollment more than doubled statewide this school year, rising from 59,802 students to some 131,128 students even as Gov. In Florida during the pandemic, the vast majority of K-12 students attended school in-person either part-time or full-time. “The fact that it was Florida is kind of shocking.” “This is really the first time that a state had open enrollment for full-time virtual school and went back,” said Jeff Kwitowski, vice president of public affairs and policy communications at Stride K12 Inc., which runs the Hendry program. That flies in the face of the expansive policies for private and charter schools typically backed in the Sunshine State, critics say. Yet opponents decry the new limits as “almost unbelievable.” Groups that typically praise Florida’s school choice stance argue the change ultimately restricts online options for parents and students. Digital campuses that serve students outside of their county would be better off under the Florida Department of Education instead of local school districts, according to state education policymakers. State lawmakers say this under-the-radar policy shift, approved by the Legislature during the 2021 session, was necessary to rein in the enrollment surge that hit virtual charter schools and similar programs during the pandemic.
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