School district to offer virtual instruction on most advanced math courses this year
Snyder ISD has not had a problem attracting certified teachers this year.
Attracting certified math teachers, however, has been a headache.
Like many other school districts in Texas, Snyder has had trouble finding certified math teachers and, in response, has had to contract with other agencies to provide that instruction online.
The district’s first step in that direction came earlier this summer when trustees approved a contract with Grapevine-Colleyville ISD to provide online instruction for advanced math courses such as trigonometry and pre-calculus. The second step was announced during Thursday’s board meeting, when trustees approved a contract for the 2019-20 school year with Edgenuity, an online instruction company based in Scottsdale, Ariz., to further augment the district’s online curriculum.
The Edgenuity contract will cost the district $115,000.
“Grapevine-Colleyville will offer instruction on our high-level courses, while Edgenuity will provide instruction in courses such as computer science, geometry and some physics,” said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Personnel Dr. Rachael McClain.
While the online instruction will give Snyder students greater flexibility in their daily schedule, it is not an option the school district would have chosen if they could have provided on-site math teachers.
“A lot of districts across the state are suffering from shortages in certified math teachers,” McClain said. “We’re just not seeing a lot of math teachers coming out of college to teach, and it takes time to certify them to teach math. We have certified teachers. They’re just not certified to teach math.”
There will be benefits to the online instruction. For one, Snyder High School students taking dual credit courses at Western Texas College will be able schedule their online instruction around their WTC classes, giving them more flexibility during their day.
Also, McClain hopes the online instruction will provide valuable on-the-job training for teachers working on attaining their math certifications.
“We hope this will be a sort of mentoring program for them, also,” McClain said.
About 400 Snyder High School students will enroll in the online courses this year, she added.