District Policy
4110 - Online Credit Policy
Online Learning Washington County School District - Approved 09-10-2013
1. Purpose:
The Board of Education of the Washington County School District believes that a variety of learning options, including online courses and programs, are critical for today's learners. The board recognizes that the online learning environment provides students with unique opportunities to become self-disciplined learners with life-long learning skills.
The board believes that online learning provides tremendous opportunities for students to access curriculum and specialized courses in a flexible learning environment that might not otherwise be available. Therefore, the board supports a range of online learning opportunities that are equally accessible to all students in the school district.
The board believes that online course curricula must be rigorous and demonstrate subject-specific allignment with Utah State Core Curriculum. They desire that all online curricula be evaluated with respect to these opjectives before allowing graduation credit to be awarded for the successful completion of course objectives.
2. Policy:
The schools of Washington County will provide a variety of online learning opportunities to their students. Online courses accepted for credit must meet the following criteria:
- The course must be obtained from a fully accredited school.
- The school must be accredited by an accreditation organization approved by the Utah State Office of Education and the Washington County School District.
- The course curriculum must align with the state approved core curriculum.
- The course must be approved by the district level "Online Credit Review Committee."
- No part of this policy or the procedures associated with it will supersede the law as it relates to Special Education.
3. Procedure:
3.1. Any online learning course for which original or recovery credit is awarded must be approved by a district level Online Credit Review Committee in advance of the student's enrollment in the course.
3.2. Approval to award credit for online courses must be requested by application. Application forms will be available online or may be obtained from the Washington County School District Office.
3.3. The Online Credit Review Committee will meet at the end of each quarter to review applications requesting approval to award credit for online courses.
3.4. Applications requesting approval to award credit for online courses must be submitted one month prior to the meeting of the Online Credit Review Committee.
3.5. Authorization to grant credit must be obtained in writing from the Online Credit Review Committee prior to student enrollment in the online course.
Attachment: WCSD Online Curriculum Approval Form