EVANSVILLE, Ind. – As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the days leading up to the first day of school for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp., so do the number of families shifting to online learning.

EVSC spokesman Jason Woebkenberg said Tuesday more than 1,700 students are enrolled in the EVSC Virtual Academy, a program that normally has between 75-100 students each year. That's an increase of at least 1,600% or as much as 2,167%.

In a district with nearly 23,000 total students, Woebkenberg said EVSC anticipates the number of families opting for online instruction to continue to rise as the school year begins Aug. 19. Currently, the Virtual Academy enrollment accounts for more than 7% of the district's total.

To accommodate the influx of virtual students, the corporation has opened up positions at the Virtual Academy to current EVSC teachers, with the hopes of hiring internally.

So far, 21 teachers from 18 schools have been added by the EVSC, with eight more positions in the process of being filled. At this time, Woebkenberg said the district intends on increasing the Virtual Academy staff to 38 full-time teachers, a huge jump from nine part-time instructors last year.

Human resources officials and the Virtual Academy are closely monitoring how many additional teachers will be needed for the upcoming school year.

"We're going to meet the needs of students with our staffing wherever they are," Woebkenberg said. "If there's movement either to or from the Virtual Academy, then we'll shift our staffing to meet those needs."

Michael Rust, Evansville Teachers Association president, said moving teachers around weeks ahead of the school year is standard. As EVSC narrows down enrollment numbers, teachers are often shifted to other schools. In this case, many will be moved to virtual instruction, he said.

"The goal is to fill those VA (Virtual Academy) positions from current EVSC teachers since most of the VA enrollment is expected to come from current EVSC students," Rust said via text message. "As enrollment shifts from in-person schools to VA, it is only natural that EVSC needs to shift some teachers to VA where the enrollment is increasing."

Once the school year starts, EVSC will make additional staff adjustments, Woebkenberg said, including moving teachers back to in-person instruction upon their request.

"If the numbers look like it may necessitate a shift when enrollment starts, then teachers will be moved from one building to another because we want to be in the process of making sure our buildings are staffed appropriately for the number of students," he said.

Like previous years, Virtual Academy students will be assigned to a teacher and participate in an online learning curriculum. Elementary teachers will teach all subjects, while middle and high school instructors teach within specific content areas.

There will be no variations in instruction from year's past, Woebkenberg said, just more students to account for and additional support from teachers.

Other area districts have seen increases in remote learning numbers. Here's a snapshot of other online enrollment numbers across the Tri-State.

Signature School

While most Signature School families have decided to go with in-person instruction, nearly 12 percent – or 50 out of 400 enrolled students – have opted to learn remotely for the start of the school year.

Executive Director Jean Hitchcock said in-person instruction is preferred, but teachers are prepared to extend their classrooms to those learning from home.

The school spent nearly $150,000 to implement technology needed to stream classes from each room, so students will be able to interact with their teachers and classmates during class.

Catholic Diocese

While there's no long-term virtual option, the Catholic Diocese of Evansville will allow students who contract COVID-19 or must quarantine due to exposure to participate in an extended-learning option.

Warrick County Schools

Several messages left for Warrick County Schools Superintendent Brad Schneider were not returned.

MSD of North Posey

Out of nearly 1,376 students enrolled in Metropolitan School District of North Posey schools, currently 53 students will learn online, less than 4%.

MSD of Mount Vernon

Across the Metropolitan School District of Mount Vernon, Superintendent Matt Thompson said nearly 310 of 2,017 students – 15 percent – will take part in remote instruction this fall.

While he doesn't think virtual enrollment numbers will rise throughout the year, if conditions worsen, the district will move to online instruction.

East Gibson

Superintendent James Wilson said 52 of the district's 810 students will forgo in-person instruction and learn from home.

However, even with the rise of COVID-19 cases in neighboring counties, he doesn't think more families will go with virtual instruction this year.

"I think it will depend on what happens, but I think it will be stable," Wilson said. "But it may change depending on circumstances."

Henderson County Schools

Megan Mortis, director of public information, said 358 students have enrolled in Henderson County Schools' Virtual Learning Academy. The district has nearly 13,500 total enrolled students.

All students will begin learning remote with the school year starting with non-traditional instruction through at least Sept. 28. Henderson County superintendent Marganna Stanley made the announcement shortly after Governor Andy Beshear's recommendation that all Kentucky schools delay the start of in-person classes until Sept. 28.

EVSC Virtual Academy enrollment up at least 1,600%, staff added to help with shift