Numbers prompt online school to stop taking applications

Officials with Wisconsin Virtual Learning, the Northern Ozaukee School District’s online charter school, have stopped accepting applications, School Board members were told this week.

“We’re processing a record number of applications,” WVL Principal Mike Leach said at Monday’s board meeting. “We stopped taking applications two weeks ago.”

Leach said the online school, which accepts students from throughout the state, may see an enrollment of 470 this fall, up from about 330 last year. He said officials set a cap on applications to maintain a “quality experience” for students and staff.

Uncertainties in school districts, whether to hold in-person classes or not, and the inexperience some districts have with remote learning, have made schools such as WVL more attractive to many families.

Leach said WVL has added staff to handle the influx of students and expanded its elective offerings.

The school has 16 full-time teachers and two special-education teachers, as well as three student learning associates and a counselor, Leach said. There also are some teachers and staff shared between the NOSD schools and other districts and WVL that teach some electives, he said.