Seat Time Waiver

Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District Receives Seat Time Waiver from the Michigan Department of Education

The Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD) has received a seat time waiver from the Michigan Department of Education.  The seat time waiver is in effect for all of the individual school districts within the EUPISD service area. The waiver will allow high school students to take a variety of online courses or specific project based learning opportunities in lieu of traditional in- school classes.

Three Specific Options Available

The first allows students to take up to a “full load” of online courses aligned with an individual students’ graduation requirements. There are a variety of approved online courses available through Michigan Virtual High School, a state-wide association known as GEN-NET and others. These courses are aligned with the Michigan High School Content Expectations (HSCEs) and will be monitored by local district teachers in cooperation with remote teachers associated with the course providers. Students will still have to take local district approved course end exams that are aligned to the HSCEs to obtain credit; just as they do in traditional courses.  This option will be well suited to students interested in semester or full year credit recovery, credit/course acceleration, added potential variety of course offerings and students that would like to access courses strictly from home or another off-site location.  Students will be required to meet face to face with local teachers periodically but will be monitored daily online as they complete work, quizzes and exams.

The second option is primarily intended for credit recovery.bStudents participating in this option will be able to participate in online modular based learning programs that will allow for credit recovery.  This option will be very helpful for students that need partial credit to successfully complete Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) required courses to graduate “on track” with their classmates.  As with option one, students will take district approved course end exams to receive credit.

Students participating in options one and two will be able to access the appropriate course options from home or other off school site locations.  All courses will be selected by students and approved by local district counselors / principals and parents. Schedules will be variable and would allow for students to take courses completely from home or to attend school part of day, for some courses, and take other courses from home.  If a student does not have access to a computer at home, the district will provide a laptop for use while the student is involved in the waiver program.

Option three will allow students to obtain credit through very specific, off site project based learning opportunities.  The sites will be approved and the experience will be aligned with HSCEs by a panel of community site representatives, local educators, counselors and principals. The site selection process will be dependent on community based sites willing to participate, alignment potential with HSCEs and student interest.  Students will need to work closely with their local districts to obtain approval for a waiver under this option.

There is a cap on the number of students that can participate in the program. The program will be monitored throughout the year and reports to the Michigan Department of Education will be required.  For general questions about the seat time waiver; contact the EUPISD at (906) 632-3373. Students participating will need to apply through their local high school offices.

High School Links and Phone Numbers