Frequently Asked Questions

Is VISION a public school or home-school?

• The program is a synthesis of both. It is a public school program that supports parent-guided education. This means that the parent or guardian still has primary oversight of the education, yet is also responsible to meet certain school district requirements in order to access educational support funds.

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Can I enroll if I live outside of Delta County?

• Yes, if you reside in a county that is adjacent to Delta County. Our new procedure allows for the enrollment of learners that are in Montrose and Mesa counties. However, the school board has voted to not allow the enrollment of learners that are in non-adjacent counties.
• Learners from outside the county must commit to meeting their Resource Consultant at least once per month as their individual agreement suggests. The Resource Consultant is not expected to drive outside the county for meetings. Families outside of the county are expected to travel to Delta County for meetings and events. Resource Consultants are not reimbursed for mileage to visit their families whether they live inside or outside of the county. Families residing outside of the county are expected to meet all requirements and deadlines of the program as if they lived in the county. This includes, but is not limited to, enrollment, funding, learning documentation and state mandated testing.

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Is there a tuition fee or other enrollment fee?

• No.

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How do I begin the enrollment process?

• After deciding that the VISION HCP seems right for your educational needs, please fill out an application and submit it to the office. You will be contacted to attend an orientation session and then given further enrollment information at the meeting. You can print an application from this website by going up to the "Resources" help tab at the top of this page and selecting: Forms > Application, and printing out the pdf file that then appears.

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Who teaches my kids in the VISION HCP?

• Parents or guardians are the primary educators. As a parent or guardian, you may choose to hire educators or tutors for additional educational support. You may choose from screened educators within the official Educator Network, or you may choose to use another qualified individual from the community that is outside of this network. Keep in mind that VISION funds cannot be used to pay immediate family members or those that live in the learner household. The VISION HCP also offers cross-over courses from local public high schools and the Technical College that learners can qualify to attend as well.

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What are the benefits of enrolling at VISION?

• The VISION HCP promotes the optimal learning environment for each learner and the optimal teaching environment for the educators. Education can happen on a schedule that fits the individual family, while utilizing the resources of the program. Each Learner is teamed up with a Resource Consultant to help in the educational journey. We also staff a Learning Specialist and tutor, Highly Qualified Consultants (as defined by NCLB), and a Guidance Specialist to help your family with specific needs. $2,150.00 in financial support is also conditionally available to each learner to support educational needs.

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Can both parents work full-time and have kids in VISION?

• It is generally not an advisable situation. Taking on the primary responsibility of educating your child takes many hours of quality time and dedicated effort each day.

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How many hours do I have to commit to?

• Successful families usually spend between 4 and 5 hours per day in documented education. You will be documenting at least 360 hours of education per semester for a yearly total of 720 hours.

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How much money do I get if my child is in VISION?

• None (in the sense of "getting money"). Actually, each family has conditional access of up to $2,150.00 per school year per full-time learner to utilize toward educational expenses. These funds are not simply written out as blanket checks made out to the family or the learner to spend on whatever they want. Funds are disbursed in specific allotments throughout the year and are approved only if the Resource Consultant, family, and the learner agree that this is a good use of the funds. Items purchased with these funds are property of the school district. Other school district requirements and restrictions may also apply.

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What can I purchase with VISION funds?

• Many approved educational items and services such as curriculum, educational tools and equipment, school supplies, educators and tutors, classes, educational activities and field trips, and special needs items.

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Do items purchased with VISION funds become my personal property?

• No. It is important to remember that any items bought with program funds remain the property of the school district. These items are available for a family and learner to use as long as they are enrolled in the program. It is also possible for a family to later purchase these items (depending upon the item and the policy) back from the school district if they wish to own them.

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How are educational expenses approved by the program?

• The school district has set guidelines for approved educational expenses (click here to view Funding Guidelines from the school district). If a learner, family, and Resource Consultant agree that an educational item or service should be purchased under these guidelines, a funding request is then submitted to the VISION HCP funding administrator. After the program and the school district have fully processed the request, the item or service can either be purchased for family use (with a Purchase Order Request), or have a reimbursement check mailed to the appropriate person.

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How soon can my senior graduate from the VISION HCP?

• There are specific requirements for a senior to graduate from the program with a Delta County School District 50J diploma, and these are outlined in our graduation handbook. The length of time spent in a diploma program may vary from a minimum of nine months to five years or longer. A graduation committee must also be in place for the senior by October 1st if they intend to graduate the following May.

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Can I use use or purchase religious curricula and materials?

• While you can use and purchase whatever materials you wish for your home use, the Delta County School District has required that religious curricula and materials cannot be purchased with VISION funds. You also cannon count the hours of instruction using any religious or faith-based curricula. This is different than a secular course about a religion or various religions. A secular course in religion is one that educates students about the various religions in the world without establishing which faith system is right or wrong. A religious or faith-based course seeks to define which religions and belief systems are right or true and which are wrong or false.

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Is there a Part-Time option available for home-schoolers?

• Yes. Registered home-schoolers can access part-time funds through the VISION program ($1,075.00 per year per learner). These funds can only be used for outside educators or classes---meaning educators or classes that either come from or are held outside of the home such as piano lessons, swimming lessons, or other outside classes or tutors. For all other instruction and education, part-time families are only held to standard state home-school law via District Special Services.
• Part-time learners must have 90 hours per semester scheduled with a local educator (Delta County or adjoining Counties) who meets with, instructs, facilitates, and evaluates the goals and learning for the course. Therefore, any correspondence course or online course will not count for outside hours for part-time learners.
• It is also important to realize that because of state funding issues, a home-schooling family cannot also enroll part-time in several different schools at once to take advantage of each school's support. Call our program Registrar for more details.