The use of virtual teachers alongside in-person instruction at the junior high level has sparked concerns about the merits of online learning for some Kankakee parents and students.

The Kankakee School Board on Feb. 9 approved a $124,050 contract with the K-12 education software company Edmentum for the second semester of the 2025-26 school year.

The company was hired to provide “synchronous, live teaching by high school-certified instructors” for 13 sections of credit-bearing courses, including Spanish, biology, English, algebra and geometry, according to the agreement.

Three parents and three students spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting in opposition of the virtual teaching platform.

About 192 students at Kankakee Junior High School and Lincoln Cultural Center will be receiving the virtual instruction, which was set to begin this week, alongside in-person instruction from their regular teachers.

Jennifer Way, executive director of curriculum and instruction, said the service is needed to ensure certification compliance for high school credit-bearing courses.

Students who take high school level courses in seventh and eighth grade have the opportunity to earn high school credit if they show mastery of the standards. The courses also count toward the students’ high school GPA.

In order to offer high school credit, the courses must be taught by a teacher with a high school certification.

The Edmentum partnership will also address a Spanish teacher vacancy created by a recent resignation, Way said.

Way said the district will be implementing a co-teaching model where virtual, high school certified specialists will work with on-site teachers.

“This is not a shift to virtual-only,” Way said. “Our students will not be staring at a screen. The students’ teachers will be with them in the classroom, engaging and facilitating the teaching and learning process.”

Way said in-person teachers will lead student discussions, facilitate hands-on activities, provide tutoring, manage the classroom culture, lead performance-based tasks and support formal grading.

“Our current junior high and LCC seventh and eighth grade teachers are instructional partners and will remain the boots-on-the-ground experts,” she said.

Superintendent Teresa Lance said district administrators planned to speak directly with the staff and students who would be impacted.

“The No.1 thing is that the students’ current teacher doesn’t go away,” Lance said. “As a matter of fact, it’s kind of like a co-teaching model. It’s not ‘glorified babysitting.’

“The teacher who is currently in the room will remain in the room and continue to facilitate pedagogical strategies with the intent that our students meet the standard.”

Lance said that students and families were promised the option to receive early high school credit for these particular courses, and the partnership is needed to deliver on that promise.

Board questions

Board members had some questions about the program before voting unanimously to approve it.

Board member Suzy Berrones asked about what the plan is going forward to address the need for high school-certified teachers. She also asked if the curriculum would be changing in the courses that will be using Edmentum for the rest of the school year.

Way said the district plans to encourage its current junior high teachers to gain the high school certification.

Some high school teachers are already teaching credit-bearing courses for seventh and eighth graders, and next year, the schedule will be adjusted to maximize these placements, Way said.

Way said there would be some shift in the learning materials, but current teachers will be relied upon to ensure work aligns with previously taught lessons.

Board member Tracy Verrett asked if the district looked into using current staff before moving into an online option.

Way said using current staff for the remainder of the year was considered, but there aren’t enough high school certified teachers who don’t already have full classes and caseloads.

Board President Chris Bohlen asked why the need was discovered halfway through the school year. He also asked if it would be a recurring expense.

“As we were looking at scheduling for next year and thinking about how do we ensure that we are maximizing and offering as many options as we can to our students, we began reviewing certifications,” Way said.

Way also said the contract with Edmentum would be a one-time expense.

Students, parents voice concerns

Harper Case, an eighth grader at Kankakee Junior High School, said he is “appalled” that the board would consider putting teachers on the sidelines for a virtual instructor.

“The fact that one would consider forcing me back to virtual learning disgusts me,” Case said. “The experiences I was forced to endure during Covid were astronomically harmful to my learning.”

Case brought a petition with signatures from classmates who were against the decision.

“I’ve talked to my peers in these classes, and we agree that this would harm our learning experience majorly,” Case said. “What’s best for us is to keep our teachers doing their job, teaching us in person, and turning us into the best students we can be, whether or not that be with high school credits in the end.”

Elliot Norton, another KJHS student, spoke against the decision, citing past negative experiences with online learning.

“In my past experiences with online classes, they caused many issues with student engagement, ability to complete work and overall advancement,” Norton said. “The curriculum proposed and used by this remote company was lacking, to put it lightly.”

Norton said the students feel this is something that has been suddenly thrown at them.

“It is almost ludicrous to expect students to adapt under these circumstances, and so quickly as well,” Norton said.

Steve Case, a parent of a junior high student, said that his son enrolled in specific courses due to the quality of the teachers’ instruction.

He said parents do not have much confidence in the proposed “co-teaching” model.

“We know the district has a history of a difficulty finding and retaining accredited teachers, but this is not one of those situations,” Steve Case said. " ... We would prefer to leave the [high school] credit, avoid disruption to the students’ and teachers’ classroom experience, and keep on with the excellent work they are doing in the classroom together.”