Earlier this year, buzz was building around plans for Florida Virtual School to launch a physical campus at its Orlando headquarters.
Since then, however, FLVS has pulled the plug on the effort.
In an email, spokeswoman Tania Clow said the virtual school made the decision after learning this spring from the state Department of Education that FLVS Campus would not have qualified for the state’s main pool of public-school funding, which helps pay for other virtual education programs.
“While courses through FLVS Campus would have been completed online, the additional face-to-face components would have made the students ineligible for [funding through the Florida Education Finance Program],” Clow wrote. The program would not have been able to operate without per-student state funding.
She added FLVS has returned the money provided by a startup grant from Next Generation Learning Challenges.
The virtual school is making other forays into blended learning by working with existing public schools in virtual education labs and Blended Learning Communities. The lines between virtual and traditional education will continue to blur.
