PENDLETON — The Intermountain Education Service District has partnered with its 18 school districts to create Virtual Academies, a new online option for students.

According to a news release, the online schooling option will be different than the comprehensive distance learning that schools will offer until students are able to be in the classroom with their teacher. The IMESD has hired teachers specifically for Virtual Academies, and students will use the academy long term, even if their district returns to in-person classes.

“While many of our districts have already had these in place, the constantly changing needs, especially recently with school closures, of educating students have heightened the necessity to offer stronger online options,” Erin Lair, IMESD’s director of teaching and learning, said in a statement.

Students who enroll in the program will remain enrolled in their home district, and still be able to access the benefits of being in that district, including extracurricular activities and technical support.

The districts also benefit from keeping the student enrolled in their district by being able to retain the state funding for that student. Marie Shimer, director of educational services for Morrow County School District, said that helps the district financially, but the concept is also about following students, who in some cases started kindergarten in the district, all the way through to graduation.

“Of course, we don’t want our enrollment to decrease, we want our budgets to remain stable,” she said in the news release, “but also, these are our kids, our students and they live in our communities. As a public school, we are committed to their success.”

Milton-Freewater School District has already released details for its K-12 Milton-Freewater Virtual Learning Academy, which it said in a news release will still require the level of “rigor, grading and attendance” of the district’s other options.

“We know we have families that may have medical care issues or other considerations that make this an attractive alternative to attending school in person,” MFVLA Online Coordinator Jay Rodighiero said in a news release. “Providing this additional opportunity aligns with the district vision of delivering Superior Education to All.”

Hermiston School District is not a member of the IMESD, but families in other Eastern Oregon districts involved in the education service district can contact their school district for details about how to enroll their student in a virtual academy.