“We would like to focus on the fact that this is a complete win,” said Cindy Lavorato, attorney for BlueSky. “Right now, we are exploring the possibility of bringing a motion to recover attorneys’ fees.”

The investigation may be over, but it is clear both sides still disagree about the facts in the case.

Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius ruled late Thursday that the embattled West St. Paul-based charter school could stay open because the state did not prove the school had a “history of major or repeated violations.” Her ruling, however, also supports state education officials’ findings that the school did not meet curriculum standards and graduated students illegally.

“As educators, community members and parents, we must hold high expectations for all schoolchildren in Minnesota,” Cassellius wrote. “Alternative delivery of education services does not excuse strict adherence to this mandate.”

Charlene Briner, Cassellius’ chief of staff, said the state’s investigation is now closed unless new issues arise.

“As you can see, it was a very close case,” Briner said. “It is clear from the evidence that BlueSky did in fact graduate students in 2009 and 2010 who had not met graduation requirements. It is also clear that BlueSky did not

provide sufficient support to demonstrate all benchmarks were covered in their curriculum.”

BlueSky leaders continue to dispute those claims.

For the rest of the article, go to BlueSky Online Charter School seeks a fresh start after legal fight to stay open

“We would like to focus on the fact that this is a complete win,” said Cindy Lavorato, attorney for BlueSky. “Right now, we are exploring the possibility of bringing a motion to recover attorneys’ fees.”

The investigation may be over, but it is clear both sides still disagree about the facts in the case.

Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius ruled late Thursday that the embattled West St. Paul-based charter school could stay open because the state did not prove the school had a “history of major or repeated violations.” Her ruling, however, also supports state education officials’ findings that the school did not meet curriculum standards and graduated students illegally.

For the rest of the article, go to BlueSky Online Charter School seeks a fresh start after legal fight to stay open

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’

The report, released last week by the respected Office of the Legislative Auditor, focuses on the growing number of K-12 students who take classes online instead of in a traditional classroom. The report from auditor Jim Nobles and his staff could not be more timely.

Minnesota is currently home to 24 state-approved online schools, 16 of which allow students to enroll full time. The number of students taking classes on their computers is burgeoning. In just four school years (2006-07 to 2009-10), Minnesota saw a doubling in the number of students taking courses on a part-time basis from online schools. At the same time, full-time online enrollment “more than tripled,” according to the report.

For the rest of the article, go to Editorial: Learning from a landmark report

It also could help West St. Paul, which faces declining enrollment and could avoid having to create an online program from scratch.

“That’s very different from a brick-and-mortar school,” said Susan Brott, the West St. Paul district’s communications director who oversees its technology department. “It’s not as simple as throwing a curriculum online.”

As online enrollment swelled in recent years, several Minnesota districts have teamed up with online schools to offer that option. Still, the proposal to reinvent an online charter school as part of a brick-and-mortar district is unusual.

For some time, West St. Paul has explored ways to embrace online learning. This fall, it will offer hybrid classes in math, science and social studies, in which students split their time between traditional classrooms

For the rest of the article, go to West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan district eyes leap into online schooling, with merger with troubled BlueSky

Officials in the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan district have been discussing a deal that could allow much of BlueSky’s program to survive while helping the traditional district branch out into online education.

No deal has been struck, and a fight between the school and the state over graduation requirements remains unresolved. But the West St. Paul district has won state approval to launch an online school that would offer classes to BlueSky’s current students and others drawn from across the state. The school would be managed by the district but retain much of BlueSky’s structure and programming.

For the rest of the article,go to BlueSky Online School May Join Regular District

The state charges that the school has a pattern of graduating students who have not completed required coursework. The school counters that each time it attempts to comply with the DOE’s requests, it faces new complaints.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual high school Blue Sky makes case for online accountability

Moodlerooms, Inc., Moodle partner and provider of proven e-Learning solutions, is pleased to announce that Houston Public Schools in Minnesota has realized the benefits of Moodlerooms’ fully-supported open-source Moodle platform. In 2008, after piloting a series of Moodle instances on district servers to evaluate the open source system’s capabilities, stability, and maintenance requirements, the district discovered that a fully-supported, enterprise solution from a trusted provider would better serve its future initiatives for e-Learning. In choosing Moodlerooms to deliver this solution, Houston Public Schools has leveraged a sustainable, managed platform for building a collaborative and engaging learning community that enables teacher innovation and cultivates student achievement.

State officials said this spring that, despite two years of warnings, BlueSky Online School had kept issuing diplomas to students who fell short of state graduation requirements.

For the rest of the article, go to BlueSky Online charter school in talks with the state

So she started doing some research on online high schools. A friend of her sister’s recommended one called Insight School of Minnesota.

“It seemed like a perfect fit,” Mikayla said.

She’s not the only one who thinks so. Attendance at online high schools is growing in Minnesota. According to “Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning,” Minnesota enrollment in online high schools increased by 47 percent in the 2009-2010 school year, with a total of 86,495 students signing into virtual classrooms.

Mikayla wanted to start her online high school right at the beginning of the year, but hadn’t started her research early enough, she explained. So she spent the first few days of her freshman year at Hastings High School and then switched over to Insight around the middle of September.