Polk School District
Online Learning Opportunities
In July of 2012, Senate Bill 289 was passed requiring districts to provide students in grades 3 through 12 the option of taking an online course. This legislation does not require an online course to graduate, but provides students the options should the student choose. This option is provided with the understanding that requests are approved based upon the available infrastructure, either physically or technologically, that a school might have. Students may choose to take online courses during the day or outside of the school day. Approval will be based upon available access to computers and supervision when the course is requested to be taken during the school day.
Online courses can be accessed through Georgia Virtual School or other vendors and local virtual schools. If the online course is taken during any of the regular periods of the school day, there is no cost to the student for the course. However, if an online course is chosen in addition to the regular schedule, the student may be charged for the course.
To facilitate the process of registration, request will be taken by the office of each school throughout May of each year, beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. If parents and students choose to take advantage of this option, parents are asked to submit a written request for their child to take a specific online course. This request should be taken to the office for consideration and approval of the local school. Approval for the online course(s) is made by the administration based on availability of equipment, supervision, and technology capabilities.
Online Clearinghouse
There is an online clearinghouse of online courses and online course providers available for parents and students. The clearinghouse assists in the select process for available courses, online course providers, and guidelines for what constitutes high quality online courses. The clearinghouse may be accessed by logging onto: https://www.gadoe.org/Technology-Services/Pages/ClearinghouseProviders.aspx
