School staff encouraged to go global

Officials of the Utah Electronic High School piqued the State Board of Education's interest Thursday and were encouraged to go forward in developing a plan to expand the school to out-of-state residents.

It's a move leaders say would generate revenue that could be rolled back into UEHS and fund the rapid growth of the program.

Currently the program only offers high school degrees to students who are Utah residents. The proposal would upgrade and rebrand the curriculum as The American Academy and offer it to students in other states and even internationally.

The program would target adults seeking a degree, foreign students, alternative schools and school districts from other states looking to "outsource."

"The idea would be to create a second campus and award diplomas to 18-30-year-olds around the country," said Richard Siddoway, UEHS principal.

"This would allow for another revenue stream and more money to hire additional educators."

Leaders will continue to explore logistics of the idea before seeking board approval. Questions still remain about issues like the school's business plan and where additional teachers would come from.

However, Siddoway said that many of the program's educators are retired teachers and a number of them have inquired about positions.

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