Pinellas Virtual School: The FLVS District Franchise and the Ongoing Controversy Over Funding Free

The year 1997 marks the founding of the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), one of the most notable innovations in K–12 distance education. Introduced as the Florida High School by educational pioneer Julie Young, studentcentered online education is now accessible to school districts throughout Florida, including public, private, charter, and homeschool students. After convincing the state legislature of the importance of distance education opportunities for high school students, the Florida Legislature funded Alachua and Orange Counties with a $200,000 Break the Mold Grant. The pilot project would be the first online high school for all Florida students.

Providing virtual education for K–12 school districts throughout the state gives students and families opportunity, accessibility, and flexibility in their education. Since its inception, the FLVS virtual learning options have grown in demand throughout Florida school districts. In 2000, the legislature established FLVS as an independent educational entity. Supported by the Florida Department of Education, FLVS has over 190 courses and serves full-time or flex (part-time) students. The flex student attends a traditional public school and takes courses with FLVS part time. Teachers for FLVS are fully certified, and the curriculum is accredited (fldoe.org).

In 2009 the Florida legislature established state statute 1002.45, virtual instruction programs, which states,

Although this legislation establishes virtual schools in districts throughout the state, the districts must meet criteria specific to the statute. All school districts must provide parents with timely written notification of at least one open enrollment period for full-time students of 90 days or more, which ends 30 days before the first day of the school year. The legislation would also impose deep budget cuts for FLVS based on the cost-effectiveness of a virtual program and the assumption that the educational costs per student would be about $1,500 less than that of a student in the traditional classroom.

FLVS lost $22 million in funding in 2009 and would have to find a creative solution to cut the cost of operations. “Funding Cuts Compel Florida Virtual School to Get by With Less,” published by the Associated Press (2009), addresses these cuts to FLVS and how creative financing and cost efficiency would come into play with the district franchise partnership. Julie Young (“Funding Cuts,” 2009) states, “Some districts will employ their own teachers and have franchises to use Florida Virtual’s curricula” (para. 14). Using a sound curriculum that is state standards-based would give districts the help they need in starting their own virtual schools.

The district franchise full-time students would have to attend 180 days a year, and part-time or flex students could attend their zoned schools while taking accelerated courses, credit recovery, or homeschooling using the FLVS curriculum. In Florida’s Online Option, Bill Tucker (2009) writes, “free from the geographic constraints and facilities costs of traditional schools, FLVS has grown rapidly, scaling up to match the considerable demand for the school’s courses. In the 2008–09 school year, approximately 84,000 students will complete 168,000 half-credit courses, a tenfold increase since 2002–03” (p. 1). Tucker (2009) explains that FLVS wanted a nonadversarial relationship with the public school systems and districts. Known as a supplemental school, FLVS would help districts increase graduation rates and students’ academic success. Julie Young, chief executive officer of FLVS, states, “The decision was ‘a huge deal.’ We didn’t steal students from traditional schools; we ‘gave kids back to their schools in good shape’” (Tucker, 2009, p. 2).

Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) provides the funding for Florida schools, and the formulas are changing with innovations in systems, like virtual schools. According to Understanding the FEFP (2017),

The state must provide quality education to all students.

Title 48, Section 1002.45, requires Florida school districts to provide students with a K–12 virtual learning option. The choice option will allow districts to use an approved provider for curriculum and instruction. Prior to this option, FLVSs acted as a supplemental school for districts and would earn half of the FEFP funding for that student, with the district schools earning half of that funding. Because demographics and economics vary yearly, this funding formula constantly changes. Figure 1 shows the breakdown in determining the FEFP for each district.

The most crucial basis for funding is through FTE or full-time equivalent status. FTE is grounded in the student enrollment for each course. According to the Florida School Boards Association (2016), “One student is equal to one FTE; however, the FTE represents the hours of instruction provided to a student” (p. 2). Further outlined by the FTE are the hours of instruction. Hours of instruction include the mandatory allotment of time spent for each grade level and subject. Nine hundred hours of instruction must be required for students in Grades 4–12. In Understanding FEFP (2017), the FSBA states that “FTE is estimated based on demographic and school district projections. Once the school year begins, FTE revisions occur by actual counts of students in October and February” (p. 2). FEFP method and formula used to determine student funding is not set in stone and can change with enrollment and economic factors.

Florida statute 1002.45 (2021) defines a virtual instruction program as an “interactive learning environment created through technology in which students are separated from their teachers by time or space, or both” (para. 2). Virtual school funding differs from the traditional brick and mortar school. How can FEFP account for the virtual instructional program’s hours, attendance, and enrollment?

Defining full-time and part-time students is essential to funding. Statute 1011.62 defines the full-time student as a member of one school program or a combination of programs and fulfills the required instructional hours at specific grade levels. Full-time students in a virtual program must complete the course with a passing grade to earn credit and for the school to earn the FTE for that student. The course load must consist of six classes, and students must pass and complete the course to receive funding. Students that are part of their district’s virtual instruction program will receive the FTE funding for course completions as full-time, part-time, or homeschool students.

If the district chooses FLVS as a provider, they will pay an enrollment fee to FLVS but keep their FTE funding. The impact on school districts is substantial if students do not complete their courses. If students do not complete the course or receive a passing grade, the district is obligated to pay FLVS for the course curriculum and does not receive the FTE funding. Another problematic area for districts is the supplemental school choice from FLVS. If a full-time student in a district school enrolls in a flex course with FLVS, total FTE funding will go to FLVS, and districts will lose money. Flex or part-time enrollment is not required to finish by the 180-day school calendar.

Funding for virtual instructional programs can be profitable for districts provided that students complete courses successfully and taxpayer money stays within the county. In 2013, changes to FTE funding were favorable to FLVS but damaging to districts. The excerpt below explains funding for FLVS in 2013.

Students who are encouraged to go to FLVS for flex or full-time options will take money from the school district in which the student lives or goes to school fulltime.

One of the largest school districts in Florida in Pinellas County. Located on the west coast of Florida, the school system currently serves 109,000 K–12 students, of which 1,541 attend virtual school full time. With the inception of Section 1002.45 in Florida, districts must provide students with a virtual instruction program. According to Simonson (2019), virtual school encompasses disruptive technology. Simonson et al. (2019) states, “A new-market disruptive innovation is often aimed at nonconsumption, whereas a lower end disruptive innovation is aimed at mainstream customers who established companies ignored … distance education, virtual schooling, and e-learning are disruptive” (p. 352). In other words, virtual instruction programs exist to fill a role and evolve with time. The K–12 virtual school model constantly changes and updates with new technology and new learning needs. Pinellas Virtual School would change the dynamics of the traditional district school, and FTE funding would take on new importance.

Pinellas Virtual School operated under the district model. The school would employ certified district teachers and write the curriculum according to state standards and benchmarks. In choosing this option, the district would retain all FTE funding for students that completed the course and participated in required state testing. The school had an administrator, an administrative assistant, and eight teachers. The full-time enrollment was around 150 students for the year in secondary and approximately 30 students in the elementary program. The school functioned as a virtual option, but there were many “loopholes” in the organization’s structure. Monitoring teachers’ instructional time and student performance daily and weekly was challenging. The new program did not convince students and families that the virtual school option would be a viable learning alternative. Pinellas Virtual students were not academically challenged, and there was no appropriate method to monitor instructional time in various subjects and grade levels. The work from home model lacked structure and accountability. The school needed to move in a different direction to meet the growing needs of a diverse population of students in the county. In 2017 everything changed, and the Pinellas School District agreed to a partnership with FLVS to create the first district franchise. The disruption was incredible. Not only did the curriculum change, but the methods of progress monitoring students and teacher instructional time would create a structured and viable option for the traditional classroom of Pinellas County.

The district franchise model would allow PVS to use the FLVS digital curriculum and have access to tech support, teacher training, and a franchise liaison for district help. Although the student population in the full-time school went down slightly due to the change, the flex student program (part time) allowed Pinellas Virtual School to serve all schools in the district with acceleration courses, credit recovery, and homeschooling students. Over the first year, Pinellas’s fulltime program for 6–12 student enrollment was 315. Our part-time enrollment in the first year was approximately 8,000 students participating in FLVS courses through the PVS district franchise. The first year’s success brought revenue to the district because the FTE funding for completed courses would remain in Pinellas County. No longer were schools sending students to FLVS to take classes part-time and losing FTE funding. Having the FLVS course curriculum allowed our instructional developer and administrative team to construct a new organizational model that would provide support to teachers, students, and families.

Innovations in learning will require the FEFP model to change to accommodate new systems. The new model would incorporate an administrative team, guidance counselor, data management technician, information technology specialist, lead instructor team, instructors, and adjuncts. The school could institute a rolling enrollment so students could attend school all year according to their individual needs. The FTE model did not accommodate a rolling enrollment; therefore, any students taking classes during the summer would not receive FTE funding.

The current enrollment is vastly different from the school’s 115–300 full-time student population before the Pandemic in 2020. Pinellas Virtual School would employ Canvas, a learning management system used before the partnership with FLVS. Courses not offered by FLVS or that the county had designed and developed to compete with FLVS were able to continue through the Canvas learning management system. With this combination, the Pinellas Virtual School did not close with traditional schools impacted by the Pandemic of 2020, and learning for the virtual school continued as usual. The PVS district franchise was also essential to training and providing courses for the county to create a virtual model through Microsoft Teams when students could not receive in-person learning in the traditional schools.

As mentioned before, the district franchise will bring more FTE funding to the district and the advantage of keeping tax dollars within Pinellas County. Based on the most current FEFP model, Pinellas County earns $5,230 per FTE. The amount is about $3,000 less than the funding that goes to the traditional school. As mentioned, this amount is based on the FEFP model and the conclusion that virtual schools have fewer expenditures than traditional schools. According to the administration of Pinellas Virtual School, FTE funding has not increased for the virtual schools at the same rate as the brick-and-mortar schools making it difficult to meet the growing enrollment of the franchise. Figure 3 displays the FEFP model for the 2021–2022 school year and the base FEFP funding for district schools. Pinellas County receives $5,230 according to the FEFP model. Figure 2 is the final calculations for the FEFP allotted to virtual education programs.

Figure 2 shows the total FTE funding for each county. Notice that the final allocation for Pinellas Virtual School is $5,808. The county received $5,230 per FTE, a difference of $578. The original FTE base funding is what was received.

Pinellas County Students did not receive the original FEFP calculation, so the difference of $578 for each FTE is a loss but counted as part of the FEFP contribution. The expenses for the franchise enrollments and courses provide a current digital curriculum to align with state standards for the last 20 years. The FLVS franchise has teacher training, professional development, course resources, and FLVS technical support. Besides resources, each franchise has an FLVS liaison to help with questions, training, and daily support to the franchise. Pinellas Virtual School can serve more students throughout the school year and generate revenue through FTE funding for course completions with a rolling enrollment. Pinellas Virtual School should receive the full FEFP funding and did not for the 2020–21 school year.

Recently, the legislature imposed new challenges to school funding and the 67 established district franchises of FLVS throughout the state. State Representative Randy Fine claims that Florida’s online programs need an “overhaul.” In an article entitled, “Lawmakers Want to Shake Up Florida’s Virtual School System,” Tampabay Times writer Jeffery S. Solochek explains that according to Palm Beach representative Randy Fine, “Florida Virtual gets about $280 million from the state to provide its classes, while districts also get per-student funding for their virtual classes, which often come from Florida Virtual” (paras. 1–2). Fine wrote the newest bill HB 5101 proposing that school districts no longer be able to contract with FLVS. The bill was created quietly and did not give districts much time to plead their cases. The proposed bill would allow district virtual schools to contract with FLVS, but this would be like the FLVS Global model in which they provide the curriculum in an learning management system without training and support. Fine said that FLVS outperforms the district franchises, which is simply not true. The franchise partnership gives districts a challenging curriculum and resources that align with state standards and are user-friendly for students and families. HB5101 would also remove learning labs from districts requiring students to have one online course for graduation.

The bill did not pass the Florida Senate, and funding and district franchises remain intact for another year. Virtual school is a disruptive technology that has proven necessary to our education system. The district franchise has also evolved and allowed accessibility and flexibility to so many students that might have failed or had their learning experience impeded by circumstance. Legislation should consider the impact of the district franchise on school choice in Florida and the successful learning experiences of its students. School choice is vital to all students in Florida, and one entity like FLVS should not control the state education system.