LOXLEY — The Baldwin County Board of Education took the first step toward hosting a virtual high school — providing more information to the state.

The school board voted unanimously to allow district officials to interview the parents of potential students. They believe there is enough interest to “open” the school this fall with 30 students.

“The state (department of education) is very enthusiastic about this,” said Homer Coffman, the district’s chief technology officer. “They have asked us to solicit parent input. They say as soon as we submit a proposal, they will have an answer (whether or not it gets state approval) the next week.”

Under the proposal first presented last month, the virtual high school would be in partnership with the Troy University and the state’s ACCESS program. Courses, including electives, would be taught online by certified teachers.

“We would like to start this fall and enroll at least 30 students,” said Stephanie Harrison, secondary coordinator for curriculum and instruction. “We estimate there are about 200 homeschooled high school students in the county. And there are students in our system interested. I got an email today from a parent in Fairhope whose son has allergies.”

Since it will be a pilot program, Harrison wants to keep the size limited to 30 students as they work the bugs out of the system.

“If you have 100 students apply, how will you choose which ones make the final cut?” asked board member Angie Swiger.

Harrison said the preliminary criteria would help weed out some applicants. Students would have to have at least a 2.0 GPA (a ‘B’ average) and have no more than five unexcused absences during the previous school year.

“The state department said we should have 30 for the first semester,” said Harrison. “If it works well, we could expand it the second semester.”

Board members said there has been a good deal of buzz in the community concerning the virtual high school after it was first brought up at the July 18 meeting.

“After our last meeting, I had people ask me about it the next morning,” said board member Shannon Cauley.