Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families Conducted a Poll to Gauge the Increase in Enrollment of Cyberschools for 2020-21 School Year

DENVER (June 4, 2020) – Due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools across Colorado were forced to close their doors and turn curriculum over to online school in a matter of days. We surveyed Colorado parents and families to prepare for the future and understand their experience with remote learning. It is important to know cyberschools delivered continuity in education throughout the entirety of the school year.

Colorado has approximately 910k students enrolled in school and COVID-19 affected 100% of the responders’ school-aged children who have had their classroom education disrupted by the pandemic. Of note, 76% of responder’s media market is in the Denver area and 20% in Colorado Springs-Pueblo.

After experiencing remote learning, 5% of these parents would select public online school as the best education for their child. Although this number seems minimal, 5% would more than double the current online enrollment numbers of 22k.

“We urge policy makers to lift the enrollment caps on our Colorado cyberschools. Long before the coronavirus pandemic, the state mandated these caps, but now, parents are ready to throw that out the window as many fear what the upcoming school year brings,” said Tillie Elvrum, cyberschool parent, president of CCCF and former president of the National Coalition for Public School Options. “If schools remain closed or maintain current level of instruction, 28% of parents would consider a full-time free public online school.”

Additionally, we compared our results with a national survey. On behalf of the National Coalition for Public School Options, Public Opinion Strategies completed a national online survey of 2,000 parents of children in grades K-11. More than 70% of these parents believe COVID-19 will cause schools to close again in the fall or winter and nearly every parent interviewed supports requiring schools to have an emergency back-up plan should they close again. Furthermore, more than 2/3 of parents express concern about sending their child or children back to a brick-and-mortar school. Many are also concerned an in-person school year could bring coronavirus to their household.  

We understand there was no way for schools to prepare for the pandemic. Now that we know COVID-19 is here and likely to stay, we must create contingency plans to rely on if schools are forced to remain closed in the fall or potentially reclose after an in-person school year has begun.

The matter of the fact is parents are scared to send their kids back to school as there could be another outbreak in the fall. They are also not 100% satisfied with the instruction they received this school year. In addition, half of parents came away with a more favorable impression of remote learning and many are considering cyberschool for the 2020-21 school year to further prevent disruption for their child or children.

At the end of the day, we must continue and further prevent COVID-19 from spreading. The coronavirus pandemic is uncharted territory for all of us and we encourage educators and policymakers across Colorado to reach out and rely on cyberschools for support and advice with digital learning.

For more information about CCCF and to find the extended list of our online resources, visit: http://www.coloradocyberfamilies.org/.

About the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families 
The Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families is a group of committed parents who have united to be powerful and vocal advocates for cyberschools and online learning in Colorado. The coalition believes that all children should have free and equal access to public online schools without restrictions. For additional information on CCCF, please visit www.coloradocyberfamilies.org. 

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