The Steilacoom School District has begun recalling teachers employed in its online program known as Washington Virtual Academy, or WAVA, which last year enrolled more than 1,700 students from around the South Sound and state.
The district said in May that it planned to notify 71 WAVA teachers that they could be laid off if state plans to cut funding to online schools were carried out.
But beginning July 22, the school district began recalling WAVA teachers, with 26 of them brought back on that day alone.
Steilacoom operates WAVA for students age kindergarten through eighth grade under contract with K12, a Virginia-based for-profit company that supplies curriculum and technical support.
Steilacoom Superintendent Bill Fritz said that although state cuts had threatened the program, in the end it appears funding will be restored at between 80 percent and 90 percent of the previous level.
The exact percentage will depend on rules that are still to be set by state education officials, Fritz said.
He said the School District had feared a more severe loss of money for the program. He said more WAVA teachers will be recalled as enrollment increases.
The district expects to enroll between 1,200 and 1,400 students in WAVA this year, Fritz said.
One effect of the funding cuts, however, is that more online students will be assigned to each WAVA teacher. He said the district is still in discussions with both the teachers’ union and with K12 over the issue.
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