Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor is proposing the expansion of hybrid virtual learning opportunities for students following the closure of the district’s Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA) due to budget cuts, according to a letter sent Thursday to academy families.
The virtual academy was a program that opened in the 2021-2022 school year as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic for students with prolonged health concerns or who were thriving at home. The school board shut the program down at the end of June due to budget constraints.
MCPS received roughly $30 million less than the county school board requested after the County Council allotted S3.3 billion in spending for fiscal year 2025, which began July 1. The school board made several budget cuts to close the gap, including ending the academy.
Families with students who attended the online academy have continuously advocated against its closure, including staging a June sit-in at the board’s headquarters and speaking at school board meetings. The academy closure is expected to impact roughly 700 students.
At a July 17 listening session held by Taylor, some advocated for re-appropriating budget funding to make sure state funds that must follow students to their schools go toward running the academy.
In the letter to families, Taylor said creating an identical program or restarting the program was “not an option” because the online academy was cut from the 2025 fiscal year budget. He apologized for the delay while the district developed an affordable option.
Taylor noted “this is work that should have been done before the decision to close MVA was made in the Spring. The Board of Education acted in good faith with the understanding that this work would take place; it did not—this is not their fault but our fault in MCPS.”
He noted the district’s existing home and hospital teaching program–formerly called interim instructional service–was a good option for students who require temporary services with “flexible and limited engagement,” but wasn’t intended to replace the virtual academy.
To address the expanded need of some medically fragile students, Taylor announced the intention of creating a hybrid virtual learning program in addition to home and hospital teaching. According to the letter, the district’s goal is to fully launch the program at the start of the second marking period.
“The hybrid virtual learning program is being designed to primarily deliver instruction in a synchronous virtual learning environment (not identical but similar to [the academy]) with periods of asynchronous work throughout the school week,” Taylor wrote.
Taylor said the new program wouldn’t work for every virtual academy student and would only serve those with a demonstrated medical need.
Sterling High and Courtney Evans, parents of a student who attended the academy, said the proposed solution was disappointing.
“It’s what we feared was going to happen,” High said. “There are a lot of folks that are very put off. They were hopeful that Dr. Taylor was working on something that actually was for all students and would provide more access to education. But this is narrowly focused.”
Moving forward, High said the family would “take what they give us,” referring to the school district, but that it wasn’t enough.
High said the couple have heard from other families that virtual academy students are experiencing mental health and other issues related to the stress of the closure and that it was causing “real harm.”
The couple said their son will utilize home and hospital teaching, but Evans said it was “forced absenteeism” when compared to the often-synchronous virtual teaching in the academy.
According to the MCPS website, home and hospital typically provides instruction for a minimum of six hours a week for students in a full-day program or a minimum of three hours per week for students in a half-day program. The virtual academy provided synchronous and asynchronous instruction five days a week, according to the academy website.
“They’re not gonna have a first day of school,” Evans said of her son and other students. “Last year, he got postcards from his teachers. ‘Hey, looking forward to seeing you. Can’t wait to see you guys.’ This year, it’s nothing. They have nothing.”
To be implemented, the proposed program would need approval from the school board and the council, in addition to working out other logistics such as staffing. Families will be required to fill out an interest form for the district to plan and budget appropriately. After obtaining staff, curricula and other logistics, families would be required to apply for the hybrid program, the letter said.
Taylor said a more detailed timeline for the proposed program will be announced by the end of August.