Principal Kelly Halvorsen presented the Winona Area Public Schools board Thursday with next year’s course proposals, some of which included new hybrid classes that would allow students to enroll in courses with an online component.

The classes would utilize software called Moodle — a virtual learning environment that can be used to instruct fully online classes or to enhance a traditional classroom setting, among other applications. Some high-school teachers currently use the software to engage students in discussion on online forums, Halvorsen said. So far, students have responded enthusiastically.

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The candidates also answered questions on their top priorities if elected, how they feel about online classes, their leadership style and others.

The forum was sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals group and organized by the Detroit Lakes League of Women Voters.

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Board member Dwight Cook said the online service would provide the district with an additional funding source.

Cook suggested meeting with staff, explaining the process to them as well as developing a pay system for those who teach the online classes.

Math teacher Jerry Bellefeuille, one of two public members who were allowed to speak at the board meeting, noted he was told teachers would learn more about the online programming after school starts.

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Goodrich graduated from The Insight School, soon to enter its third year of operation.

Nineteen percent of high school students in the U.S. attended online classes in the 2007-2008 school year, Insight spokesman George Fiddler said.

“A certified online Minnesota high school like Insight is just one of many choices for high school children in our state. It works a lot like open enrollment would,” said Christine Du Four, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Education.

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The district plans to offer several online classes to juniors and seniors. Students who have registered for those classes will spend 60 to 80 percent of their course time on the computer, either at home or in a computer lab at Mounds View High School in Arden Hills and Irondale High School in New Brighton. Classroom time will be arranged by the instructor and might take the form of a once-a-week seminar, said RoAnne Elliott, Mounds View schools director of curriculum and instruction. Elliott calls the online courses “hybrid” because they combine classroom and online study.

“The teacher might say, ‘If I’ve got 30 kids in this hybrid course, instead of meeting all of them, I’m going to break the class into smaller groups, or meet all at the same time, ” Elliott said. “You can have a day where the teacher can meet with individual students, or small groups of students.”

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