Falcon School District 49, in collaboration with Colorado Yuma School District 1, has formed the stateís first Digital Board of Cooperative Education Services. The Colorado Digital BOCES was formed in response to a statewide need to improve online education, said Kim McClelland, iConnect Zone innovation leader.The focus of the digital BOCES is oversight and accountability of digital, online and blended learning, she said. ìWe were talking about how online schools arenít getting support and that there needs to be a separation between the comparison of online schools and traditional brick-and-mortar schools,î McClelland said. ìWe got to the point where we could either keep talking about it or do something about it. We saw a problem that we wanted to help find a solution to.îFalcon Virtual Academy, which opened two years ago, is one of the largest online schools in the district, she said, and has had great success incorporating online and blended learning styles for its students. ìWhy not start something so that others can be successful, too,î McClelland said. ìThe iConnect Zone has been a solution hub so we use that knowledge to determine how to provide proper oversight and greater accountability, while giving autonomy to these other schools so that they can succeed.îRobert Stannard, Yuma District 1ís superintendent, said his district has needs that are unique from other districts because the online student population is extremely large. ìKids are in our building in a special classroom or with an aide, getting their education through online school,î he said. ìWe evolved that direction, and weíre also interested in blended learning. We want to be able to do things that bigger city districts can do.îStannard said he and the D 1 education leaders had been paying attention to the strides D 49 was making in the innovation of blended and online learning. ìWe think weíre the opposite kind of district from D 49, and I think that makes for a good center of gravity for collaboration,î he said. ìThereís a lot of opportunity for alliances through the BOCES.îMcClelland said work to create the digital BOCES started around the beginning of February. Several board members have already been appointed and include the following: Stannard; Don Begier, D 49 acting chief education officer; Chuck Irons, D 49 BOE secretary; and Andy Holloman, former D 49 BOE treasurer. McClelland said other members will be appointed in the near future.The College Preparatory Online Academy has already been approved through the Colorado Department of Education multi-district approval process, she said. ìWe also have a school in the system, and I submitted that application (to the CDE) on April 1,î she said.In addition to the goals of increased accountability and support for blended and online learning, McClelland said the digital BOCES has plans to eventually bring on institutions of higher education.The entire process has been like starting a new district from the ground up, she said.ìThe BOCES will give D 49 the opportunity to pursue innovative approaches that will transform the way online and blended schools have been supported in the past,î McClelland said.ìWe think it is going to take some work and development, but I think this is a good path,î Stannard said. ìWe certainly donít have any small plans. Itís an honor to be associated with D 49, and I anticipate that my district will benefit from this collaboration.î
