ORCA PROPOSAL / ORVA CONDITIONS / RECOMMENDATON
Grades / K-12 / K-8
Cap / 5,000 students / 600 students
Siblings / Siblings of presently enrolled students given priority / n/a
Students /  Students enrolled prior to 5-1-10 will not require resident district permission
 Siblings of enrolled students will not require resident district permission
 Districts may deny ORCA enrollment for students enrolling after 5-1-10 under certain conditions:
  • If the resident district denies enrollment within 15 calendar days of notice; and
  • The student was enrolled in the resident district for at least 90 days during the prior or current school year (can’t deny homeschoolers); and
  • The student’s enrollment will represent an undue financial burden on the district; or
  • The student has an IEP that represents an undue financial burden on the resources of the district if the student is enrolled in ORCA.
/ Students falling outside of the 50% rule must receive written approval of their resident district in order to enroll in the school.
Appeal of District Denial / Parent must appeal to ODE within 30 days of denial. Appeal must be based on:
 Student was not enrolled in resident district for at least 90 days during current or prior school year;
 Student’s sibling was enrolled in ORCA during current or prior school year
 The total number of students attending ORCA from the same resident district increased by less than 10% compared with the prior year and thus does not represent an undue financial burden on the district.
 The student has a documented condition that prevents him from attending a school in the resident district (must have documentation of condition). / No appeal; districts may deny enrollment for any reason
Waiver Length / In perpetuity / Sunsets on July 1, 2010 (may be extended by SBE)
Reports / The school agreed to work with ODE staff to support ODE’s efforts to collect additional dataon the overall operation of the school and support ODE’s effort to make regular reports tothe State Board of Education including the Database Initiative.
Evaluation / The school agreed to a third-party performance evaluation commissioned by ODE and/orthe State Board of Education of its entire academic, programmatic, and operationalprograms. The school will cover these costs if required by ODE.
Charter / ORVA had existing charter agreement at time of waiver.
Funding / 90% ADMw = K-8
95% ADMw – 9-12
(subject to change with new charter) / 95% ADMw = K-8
Standards / Oregon Virtual Academy/North Bend School District charter application meetapplicable Oregon standards.
50% Count / For the purposes of interpreting the 50% rule, ORVA will not count part-time resident students when determining how many students the school can accept from outside the district. Furthermore, should the State Board of Education pass a clarification on the enrollment language in the 50% rule, the school agrees to abide by it.

NOTES:

The ORCA proposal adds several duties to ODE. ODE does not have the staff to take on these additional tasks. Additional duties include the following:

  • Create form for school district use to approve/deny student ORCA enrollment
  • Create OARs for ORCA admission/appeals
  • Review enrollment denial appeals from parents; ask for, review, denial document within 10 days
  • Resolve enrollment disputes between ORCA and resident districts within 30 days
  • Notify appealing parent of determination via registered mail
  • Notify resident district/ORCA of appeal determination
  • Bill resident district $200 if resident district loses appeal

In addition, the State Board may not grant a waiver in perpetuity as requested by ORCA for legal and policy reasons. The present State Board may not bind a future State Board. In addition, state law and board policy may change that may impact charter schools that offer on-line course or ORCA’s program or quality of education services may change in such a way that this would impact the waiver.

Both the ORCA proposal and the staff recommendation would require ORCA to submit an additional waiver request for additional statutes.