Now that in-person school is available, the Wrangell homeschool community has shrunk to roughly pre-pandemic levels, though community awareness of alternative education options has increased.
Homeschool education, which has been growing steadily nationwide since the 1970s, experienced a massive popularity boost in 2020, as families who were dissatisfied with their children’s Zoom classes explored other possibilities.
While the percentage of homeschooled children nationwide was holding steady at around 3% before the pandemic, that number rose to 11.1% in the fall of the 2020-2021 school year, according to data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
In Alaska, this popularity boost was even greater. The percentage of homeschooling households rose 17.9% throughout the state in 2020, which was the largest increase in the nation, according to the Census report.
Jen Whicker, contact teacher at Personalized Academic Choices in Education, or PACE, believes that online learning during the pandemic has boosted communities’ interest in their homeschooling options. She visited Wrangell last month to raise awareness about PACE and check in with her homeschooling families.
PACE is operated by the Craig City School District, providing services to students statewide. It operates mostly with state funding.
Though PACE enrollment has dropped somewhat since pandemic shutdowns ended, its student body is still larger than it was before 2020. “We doubled our enrollment statewide,” said Whicker. “Our numbers are still going up.”
Whicker supports 12 Wrangell families who are homeschooling their children through PACE. Most of her students, she explained, opt for a combination of homeschool and public school, but she has noticed a shift toward PACE classes as homeschooling becomes more mainstream. “I do have more and more who are just choosing to graduate with PACE since COVID,” she said.
The students and families she works with often cite the increased flexibility that homeschooling offers, along with frustrations about the public school system, as reasons for making the switch. At Wrangell High, students often turn toward PACE to help them complete the school’s unique senior requirements.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, the population at Wrangell schools has decreased by about 50 students — a 15% drop from 2019. As state funding is based on enrollment, the district this year expects $474,000 less from the state than the past school year.
According to Kim Powell, the district’s executive administrative assistant, most of these students were lost to out-migration as families left town, not homeschooling and correspondence courses.
The district does not keep official data on whether students who leave opt to homeschool or simply move away. However, Powell has maintained a contact list of the community’s homeschool families since March of 2021, when pandemic lockdowns drove many parents to try at-home education. At its peak, the list contained 34 families and has now dropped to “roughly” the same number that were homeschooling pre-pandemic — about 10. She could only think of one family that began homeschooling during the pandemic and did not return.
However, the Wrangell homeschool community appears to have grown stronger and more active. A Facebook group for Wrangell homeschoolers, which was created in 2020, has now grown to 74 members. They share workbooks and other resources with area families who are either considering homeschooling, or are homeschooling already.
The district is somewhat concerned about the impact that a potential homeschool renaissance could have on their finances. “I think it’s always a concern,” said Powell. But, citing the fact that many pandemic homeschool families had since returned to the district, she added “I don’t think it’s the main factor.”
Bill Burr, district superintendent, also expressed a mixture of apprehension and support for homeschooling. “When our school numbers are down … we’ve got to roll back some of the options for students, which really impacts our education,” he said. However, he acknowledged that “for some, homeschooling may be the best option. As long as a student is getting an education, for the sake of Wrangell, that’s a good thing.”
Reader Comments(0)