WBS enters into pact for new Web learning program

The West Bloomfield School District Board of Education voted Monday, Sept. 26 to approve the district’s entrance into an intergovernmental agreement with Oakland Schools for the Widening Advancements for Youth (WAY) online program that allows students who can’t physically attend school to take online classes to graduate.

The WAY program is described by the district as “an online, project-based alternative high school where students earn credits through completion of rigorous projects which meet all state standards and Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements.”

To be eligible for the WAY program, a student must be a resident pupil of the district or a non-resident pupil admitted through the State School Aid Act.

A student must also be less than 20-years-old for general education or 26-years-old if a student has an individualized education program.

A student must also be in grades 9 through 12 and not already have a high school diploma or GED.

The district must also register each of its fall semester students no later than Oct. 5 of each school year.

The district states that the program will cost the district $6,500 per student per year, or $3,250 per semester, for the first two years of the program, but that beginning in the 2013-14 school year, tuition will be the actual cost to operate WAY on a cost-recovery basis only, divided by the number of students in the program.