At a March 13 board meeting, Oxford’s Board of Education unanimously approved the issuance of a charter school contract to Lighthouse Connections Academy to operate as a cyber charter school.

If the contract is approved by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), a partnership would be created between the online learning provider Connections Education (a part of global learning company Pearson) and the district through the creation of an Oxford Schools-authorized cyber school of excellence called Lighthouse Connections Academy.

A school of excellence that is a cyber charter school is a public school academy that meets the federal definition of a charter school, has been issued a contract to operate and provides full-time instruction to pupils through online learning, which may be remote or from a school facility.

Local districts in Michigan may issue one charter contract for a cyber charter school that may operate statewide.

The district has ten days following its contract approval to finalize the contract and send it to the Michigan Department of Education for final approval/denial of the contract. If the contract is approved by the MDE, Lighthouse would receive a school and district code and would open for student enrollment shortly thereafter.

Listed benefits to the district have been said to include job creation for local teachers at a learning center which could be created for Lighthouse students and additional revenue which would be collected by the district through authorization fees.

According to the district’s existing draft contract, Oxford Schools will retain a 3 percent authorizer fee from Lighthouse Connections Academy.

Lighthouse would receive its curriculum and other services from Connections Education while Oxford Schools would act as its authorizer and fiscal agent.

Oxford Schools Director of Educational Solutions Jill Lemond said Lighthouse Connections Academy would operate under its own four-member board and administration but would need to meet the performance standards set by the state and by Oxford Community Schools.

The Lighthouse board would hire an administrative team of its own and handle all hiring and contracting, so the responsibility wouldn’t fall into the workload of Oxford’s current administrative team, according to Lemond.

“We’ve been in frequent communication with their board and they are a very strong group of educational advocates,” said Lemond. “As the director of the charter office in the district, I will personally be attending those monthly meetings virtually on a monthly basis, staying in contact with them to make sure that our goals are met and that our curriculum aligns. “That will be pretty much our only involvement from this point on. They (are) their own district and they have their own leadership, we’re just there to help them and make sure that they maintain their legalities.”