BlueSky Online School., a leading Minnesota online high school, today announced an Administrative Law Judge has recommended the school’s contract NOT be terminated — something the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has pursued for more than one year. Based on the evidence and expert testimony received during a three-day hearing in September, the judge found no “major” or “repeated” violations of the law.

The findings of fact and conclusions of law issued by the judge also noted several errors in MDE’s evaluation of graduation credits, and found the process was predicated on an unpromulgated rule. In fact, MDE witnesses testified  they “made up” the procedure from pieces of other processes, and the judge found there was no “certainty and clarity for it to be fair.”

For the rest of the article, go to Judge Recommends Minnesota Education Department’s Termination of BlueSky’s Contract be ‘Rescinded and the Matter Dismissed’

BlueSky Online School gave Alexis Mumford a way to study in peace after anxiety, an eating disorder and teasing made middle school a nightmare. Jordan Voth enrolled hoping to earn his diploma after he fell short of credits in his senior year.

But this spring, state officials are moving in to close BlueSky, saying the school has run afoul of graduation requirements. It’s an unprecedented step that some see as a warning to other charter schools that the state won’t tolerate persistent legal violations.

For the rest of the article, go to Students at Minn. Online School on Edge