The programs will cater toward different student needs, including course recovery, flexible scheduling and non-traditional education options. They'll enroll fourth- and fifth-grade students and ninth- through 12th-graders in its first year, with plans to expand in future years, said Meredith Akers, the director of Cy-Fair ISD Virtual Pathways, in a board report last week.
Interest in virtual school has skyrocketed by 1,200 percent over the past decade, with thousands of students across Texas enrolled in free virtual public school. The total figure is likely higher since those numbers don't include students who attend private virtual options through homeschool programs — that data is not tracked.
Historically, virtual programs have not performed well in the Texas Education Agency's accountability ratings system. For example, Houston ISD's virtual learning program, Texas Connections Academy Houston, received a D in 2025. But leaders in Cy-Fair say their virtual program will be held to the same scrutiny for academic performance as any school in Cy-Fair, and it won't be run by an outside provider like Stride K-12 or Connections Academy. Cy-Fair ISD administrators plan to run the program as a district initiative.
The new program aims to capitalize on local demand for more schooling options. Last school year, over 1,100 students who live in Cy-Fair ISD attended virtual programs, Akers said. And while the district used to be fast-growing, its current enrollment of just under 118,000 is expected to stabilize over the next decade, according to demographer reports. The virtual program could increase enrollment and average daily attendance funding that Cy-Fair is currently losing to outside virtual programs.
"Many students who reside in CFISD are currently enrolled in virtual programs outside the district, which shows a clear interest within our community for virtual options," Akers said in a statement earlier this year. "One of the goals of CFISD's Virtual Pathways is to bring those families back by offering a high-quality program that allows them to remain a part of CFISD."
Cy-Fair ISD jumped on the opportunity to offer virtual programs that would give them the same funding that in-person students receive, after the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 569 that expanded access and protections for virtual schools in Texas. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, wrote the bill and said he expected virtual enrollment in the state to double in its wake.
While Texas' $1 Billion school voucher program is also opening next school year, Akers said this virtual program was not created as a response to vouchers. Instead, it aims to provide more choice to Cy-Fair ISD students and recuperate lost enrollment from students who are Cy-Fair residents but attend online school outside the district.
"When we talk about rising to new education competition, these are the kinds of things that we're talking about doing. So we really appreciate your effort, your energy, the creativeness that goes into this," Trustee Justin Ray said to Akers at the meeting Thursday.
WHAT ONLINE OPTIONS WILL CY-FAIR ISD OFFER FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR?
The district is opening three new pathways: CFISD Virtual Academy, a fully online school for students who want non-traditional learning options; CFISD Flex Learning for students with different scheduling needs due to sports and extracurriculars or who want to participate in advanced online courses; and CFISD Supplemental Courses, which are tuition-based courses that will be available outside of the regular school day.
Akers said she and her team created the pathways based on feedback from surveys of 4,852 high school and responses from 6,757 elementary and middle school parents.
All options will be taught by Cy-Fair ISD teachers with the same curriculum and pacing as in-person learning, Akers said. The teachers will also be assigned to online-only instruction, full-time, so that no educators would have to split teaching between online and in-person learning, like many did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Akers also said they plan to model the virtual school after best practices in regular classrooms, even down to class size.
"In other virtual schools, sometimes students log in and there's 100 students in the class, and we're not going to have that. It'll be in high school, possibly up to about 30 kids. In elementary, 20 to 24 kids at the most. For small group, we would look at five students or less," she said.
Students from other districts can apply to the three pathways, Akers said, meaning Cy-Fair ISD could not only recoup lost funding, but potentially increase enrollment if enough students outside Cy-Fair show interest in the options.
DETAILS OF THE THREE PROGRAMS
The full-time virtual program will be available to fourth- and fifth-grade students and ninth- through 12th-grade students. The school will be largely asynchronous, with some synchronous activities weekly, and will provide core classes along with electives, art, physical education and more.
For high school students, there will be seven different course paths for students to earn an endorsement on their diploma, Akers said. They will offer career and technical education classes along with dual-credit options in partnership with Lone Star College.
Cy-Fair ISD plans to expand the full-time option to middle school in 2027-28, based on enrollment and interest.
The flex program will be available only to 11th- and 12th-grade students, providing flexibility for students who work outside of school or who have demanding sports schedules that require early departures from school. Students can also take the courses online at their high school as part of their regular schedule, she said.
The tuition-based supplemental courses will be online starting next school year as well, open to high school students who qualify.
For that program, the main goal is to "accelerate graduation, make room for an additional elective at school, or even earn credit recovery for a previously failed course," Akers said. The courses may also attract students from outside schools who want to take a course not offered within their district. For resident students, supplemental courses will cost $259 per semester. For students outside Cy-Fair ISD, courses will cost $350 per semester. A list of the available courses can be found on the district's website.
The priority enrollment deadline for Cy-Fair ISD students to apply is Dec. 18. The final deadline for the virtual and flex options is Feb. 16 and for the supplemental courses the deadline is July 26, according to the website. Students from other districts will be considered on a rolling basis dependent on capacity.
"It's a big undertaking, and I know we're going to do it better than anyone else," Superintendent Doug Killian said Thursday. "I know some surrounding districts that started it, and it's just a canned program. It's not really their teachers. This is going to be so much better. Watch out, Texas."
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