Batavia drops out of online learning cooperative

The Batavia school district is dropping out of the group planning an online and blended learning program.

The school board voted 4-3 to do so Tuesday, according to board member Sue Locke.

Cost was the primary factor, Locke said. School board President Cathy Dremel could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Batavia is the second of five districts to abandon the effort. The Kaneland 302 school board left two weeks ago.

That leaves unit Naperville 203, Indian Prairie 204 and Wheaton Warrenville 200 to decide whether to form the cooperative.

The five districts began planning last summer, identifying what courses to offer, how much the startup costs would be, how many students each district could enroll in the classes and staff needed.

Each district would have had to pony up $85,000 to start. Other costs, apportioned by the size of the districts, would have had Kaneland and Batavia paying another $11,500 the first year.

Kaneland board members said they weighed the value of the program versus the cost in making a decision.