From the Voyager Academy Board, Sept. 29, 2019

I know it is only October, but the Board wants to make sure you have plenty of notice before making summer plans about a new aspect of our enrollment policy, which we adopted at our September meeting.  The policy essentially requires students to attend school at the beginning of the school year to maintain their lottery spot (with specific exceptions for illness with a doctors’ note, religious observances, and so forth).  Each parent will be asked to acknowledge the policy when they re-enroll or apply for a lottery spot.  This policy applies equally to new applicants and current students.

The reason we adopted this policy is that we have had a recurring problem with students not being in their chairs ready to learn at the start of the new school year, which has a direct, negative financial impact on the school.  Our average daily attendance for the first 20 days affects the overall level of funding our school receives from the State.  For students who are not in attendance at the start of school, we are leaving dollars on the table that are supposed to fund those students throughout the year with no chance to recover those dollars.  Obviously, each dollar is critically important, and we cannot afford to leave State funding on the table.  This has become a significant enough issue to warrant board action.  

The good news is that the board also approved calendars for the next two years (2020-21 and 2021-22), so you will soon have the information you will need to do your travel planning.  Please make sure to have your children in school on Day 1, which is August 6 in 2020, and please do not pull your child out unnecessarily during the first month of school.

Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful week!