How would you bring cyber school/charter school students back?

Jim Grabusky: I certainly believe that competition is a good thing.  If there’s a cyber school out there that’s doing a great job, then that’s great.  If we’re being judged by PSSA scores, then I believe that cyber schools should also be judged by PSSA scores.

Jeffrey Dimmig: I am not against cyber schools, vouchers or charter schools. That fills a vacuum or a need out here. We here are in the business of providing this type of education. I don’t know that it helps us to try and capture that small percentage of people out there. Those people made that choice. I don’t really see the savings. I think we’re better off allowing them to choose that path.

William Lycett: I don’t think it’s that big of an issue. I’m in favor of charter schools; I’m in favor of school vouchers. I think a competitive landscape and letting parents choose where they want to have their kids is important. And just because it’s brick and mortar doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do something. I work in the pharmaceutical industry. I train account managers. They’re the individuals who call on the health care companies. In the last 100 years, name two entities that have not changed the basic way in which they deliver their service or what they provide. One is healthcare and the other is schools. The basic way in which it’s done hasn’t changed in the last century. It’s still the same process. There are other ways of doing things. I think even within our walls we need to look at that and how it can be done to get a better result.

John Quigley: The charter and cyber schools are an option. It's pretentious of us to demand parents to send a child to our schools. Those schools fill a vacuum. We can’t tell the parent you have to do it this way. Our funding comes from the parents. If parents want to send their child to a charter school they should have the opportunity to do so.

Corrine A. Gunkle: I sit on the education committee and I pointed out I am very involved in the cyber school. If there was a suggestion that we were forcing people who wanted to go to cyber school to come and physically sit in this building, that is incorrect. We collectively, with other districts in Lehigh County, are creating a cyber school. The students are still working on the computer, just  the same as at other cyber schools. The difference is, the curriculum is being directed by Lehigh County school districts. We are the ones that are providing what is being taught, and they are being taught by our certified teachers who are taking responsibility for what results are going to be. Like I said before, every single student, that goes from whatever cyber school they’re in now to the Lehigh, saves $4,000. Previously, Mr. Dimmig said that he wanted to save $60,000 on laser printers. That's one purchase, one year. You can bring in 15 cyber students in, that $60,000 this year, next year, the year after that. It’s repeating.

Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and grammar. Content has remained unchanged.