Mar. 17—A Cleveland County lawmaker is going after Insight School of Oklahoma for what he said was redirecting money intended for alternative education.
Rep. Danny Sterling, R-Tecumseh, said a new bill will reinforce traditional definitions of alternative education.
House Bill 3551 reinforces language in existing law that defines alternative education as intended for students who struggle with attendance, academic performance or behavior.
“I think a lot of the misunderstanding is that a lot of people are confusing alternative education, which is for true at-risk students with mental health issues, absenteeism, among other things, with alternative settings,” Sterling said.
Insight issued a statement to The Oklahoman which said it is the only alternative education virtual charter school recognized by the State of Oklahoma State Department of Education, but Sterling said it does not have a true alternative education program.
“Virtual School is an alternative setting. It doesn’t qualify for alternative education guidelines,” Sterling said. “I’m not saying there aren’t students at Insight that are at-risk students — we know some do have mental health issues or are behind with grades and have had high absenteeism.”
He said Insight does not mandate necessary requirements set aside for those who are “at risk,” as is required by true alternative schools.
Sterling served as the principal and vice principal of Tecumseh High School and has worked in education for over 40 years.
He said in November, Insight convinced the Board of Education to change requirements for what an alternative school is to give them access to money intended for at-risk students.
He said the passage of H.B. 3551 would redirect this money back to schools with traditional alternative education programs.
“One of the core pieces of alternative education is having an in-person teacher and having the student be in-person for four hours and 10 minutes a day in a class. That was the original guideline,” Sterling said.
The new bill also calls for classrooms not to exceed 15 students.
He said that Insight is taking advantage of a loose definition of “alternative,” as well as “at-risk” student.
“I mean, they’re not all alternative ed students [at Insight]. If you want to play that game, I could say every student at Norman, Noble or Tecumseh, or anywhere else is an at-risk student if they miss school one day,” Sterling said.
Sterling said Insight claims all of their students are “alternative education” students, which taps them into BOE funding for alternative education.
“In a true alternative education program, administrators do a student intake process where they are determined whether they have those kinds of issues, like chronic absenteeism, academic deficiency, etc.” he said. “There’s a difference between ‘alternative education’ which refers to students who are at risk, compared to learning in an alternative setting, as is done at Insight or Epic.”
Sterling said he’s worried that without a bill like this, Epic will follow suit and declare itself an alternative education site.
He also said a hallmark of alternative education is mandatory counseling.
“One of the components of a true alternative education programing is counseling, either as an individual, group, or both, and they have to meet at least twice a month,” Sterling said. “These students need some counseling because for some reason, they aren’t being successful.”
He said Insight only requires students to fill out a survey.
“They don’t even have to talk to a person,” he said. “They say, ‘we do that already.’ The problem is they offer counseling, they don’t require it. When you offer something and don’t mandate it, students aren’t going to do it.”
His new bill would require schools receiving money for alternative education to do intakes and reinstate alternative education standards.
The bill would also require schools to give life skills, such as financial literacy.
He said Insight takes in about $1.5 million of the state’s money allocated for alternative education, which takes away from true alternative education programs.
“If these schools are going to get that money, they have to provide those services,” he said.
Insight enrolls 1,150 students.
Rep. Annie Menz, D-Norman, said she voted for H.B. 3551.
“I supported H.B. 3551 with my yea vote, and I respect the author very much; however, I am growing increasingly concerned with this legislature’s propensity to pass reactive bills,” Menz said.
She said the number of reactive bills is indicative of a legislature that isn’t working to prevent problems from happening.
“This bill was a reaction to one educational institution in the metro area. The number of bills we have considered this session alone that are in response to one tragedy or one organization or one person is alarming,” Menz said. “Oklahoma deserves better, more thoughtful legislation that is built around the idea that government is for everyone.”
Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at [email protected].