Information for School Districts

Multidistrict Online Providers Approval Process

Your district's online school program may qualify as a multidistrict online provider. Use the "Who Gets Reviewed?" form to check. Note that even if your program doesn't need to be approved, districts are still required to incorporate the approval criteria into program design.

View the list of approved multidistrict online providers to find both grandfathered online course providers and grandfathered online school programs.

Learn more about the approval process and criteria in the Provider Approval section. The review process is also described in WAC 392-502.

Funding for Online Courses

Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, school districts may claim state basic education funding, to the extent otherwise allowed by state law, for students enrolled in online courses or programs only if the online courses or programs are:

  • Offered by an approved multidistrict online provider; or
  • Offered by a school district online learning program if the program serves students who reside within the geographic boundaries of the school district, including school district programs in which fewer than ten percent of the program's students reside outside the school district's geographic boundaries; or
  • Offered by a regional online learning program where courses are jointly developed and offered by two or more school districts or an educational service district through an interdistrict cooperative program agreement.

Districts may claim state basic education funding for non-approved courses if the course meets the criteria for district use of non-approved courses.

(The funding rules are specified in WAC 392-502-080.)

Programs that qualify as Alternative Learning Experiences (ALE) should review and comply with the Alternative Learning Experience accreditation and definition changes as per SSB 5410, Section 9. For more information about ALE, please see OSPI's Program Implementation Guidelines for ALE.

District Frequently Asked Questions

Our Frequently Asked Questions section covers a number of topics of interest to districts, especially those operating online school programs. Topics include:

Model Policy and Procedures

Model online learning policy and procedures, developed by OSPI and WSSDA, are available for districts to use when developing online learning policy and procedures.

Model Provider Agreements

OSPI has developed a model agreement for school districts to use when contracting with multidistrict online school program providers. School districts may, at their discretion, use the provided contract template when engaging a third-party provider to offer the provider's programs to students in the district.

District Responsibilities for Online Courses and Programs

If your district is offering, or planning on offering, an online school program or individual online courses, you can use the District Responsibilities checklists to ensure that your district is meeting all of the online learning requirements. The checklists also cover the requirements when districts contract with a third-party, either for-profit or non-profit, to provide the program or courses.

Special Education Guidelines for Online Schools

Districts offering online school programs should use the Special Education Guidelines for Online Schools to ensure compliance around recruitment, admission, and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

Resources for Districts

The DLD offers districts: