By Calvin Pynn, contributor
Home-schooled students in Harrisonburg might soon be allowed to take classes at Massanutten Technical Center.
The Harrisonburg City School Board discussed a potential change in policy during Tuesday night’s work session. Currently, home-schooled students in the city are not eligible to enroll in courses at the technical and professional school. Home-schooled students in Rockingham County, however, do have that option.
Superintendent Michael Richards said during the meeting that it’s time to allow the same opportunity for students in the city, while also considering city public school students enrolled at Massanutten Technical Center. To do that, the family of a home-schooled student going to MTC would make up the difference in state funding.
“So, we would allow a homeschooled student to register at MTC through us. The county registers for their own slots, we register for our slots,” Richards said. “But it would not take a slot from one of our enrolled students. And to be fair to the taxpayers in the city and so forth, they would have to make up the difference in state funding.”
The school division gets some state funds for home-schooled students at MTC. Chief Academic Officer Joy Blosser said the amount is about $1,500 for a first year student and roughly $3,100 for a second year. However, to fully fund a home-schooled student at MTC would mean using state money that could be used elsewhere in the division.
Blosser said the school could make room without displacing any public school students by filling leftover seats. The city and county school divisions share those leftover seats on a case-by-case basis.
“Any slots that are left over sitting there open that neither school division is using, then those are the slots that are available to homeschool and private school students,” Blosser explained. “So, it’s not taking any slots away from our students or Rockingham students.”
The board took no action on Richards’ proposal Thursday night but plans to discuss it at a future meeting. In the meantime, Richards said he will calculate the full cost to the school division to sponsor a home-schooled student at MTC.
Board considers school additions and other projects
The board received an update on more than three dozen improvement projects needed over the next several years.
A stormwater retention plan for Thomas Harrison Middle School was the highest priority in the report. The project, which has never been addressed at the school before, is estimated to cost $500,000, according to HCPS Chief Operating Officer Shawn Printz.
School board chair Emma Phillips, who teaches biology at Blue Ridge Community College, said she was fascinated by the circumstance behind the need for the new plan. She said one of the retention areas at the middle school has, technically, turned into a different ecosystem.
“Apparently, one of the retention areas is so overgrown that it is now officially a wetland,” Phillips said. “And we can’t touch it any more, so we have to create something different.”
Many of the other high-priority items include roof repairs and replacements at some of the city’s elementary schools. The discussion also covered alternatives to mobile classrooms, including building additions.
Richards said while he prefers building additions over mobile units, those additions often include more than just new classrooms.
“When you do add to a building, you’re not just adding classrooms, you’re adding to the core facilities,” Richards said. “So, there are more people using the restrooms, eating in the cafeteria, and using the gym and the library. So it takes some engineering, and all those things have to come in.”
An estimated $2.5 million dollar purchase of land – which could become the site of a seventh elementary school or additional campus, also is included n the plan. While it’s categorized as a high priority for the 2026-2027 school year, board members acknowledged that land acquisition in the city will be a challenge on that timeline.
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