The Pleasant Valley School District announced Friday afternoon that students enrolled in its cyber academy will tentatively start school on Sept. 8. Parents received the notification Friday afternoon. School for students in the district’s hybrid setting will begin school on Monday.

Superintendent Lee Lesisko announced Thursday night at the school board meeting that the number of students seeking enrollment in the cyber academy had swelled to more than 1,200 students. There were 329 students enrolled in the academy on Aug. 4.

The problem is that the district does not have enough textbooks and Chromebooks to accommodate that many students. Lesisko said he was confident that about 500 of the students could be admitted into the cyber academy, but was uncertain if all of them could be admitted.

A notification went out to parents earlier in the week that their enrollments were still being processed, but the shortage of materials was not mentioned.

In the notification sent to parents Friday afternoon, Lesisko said, “I am communicating with you now to let you know that all students that would like to be in our Cyber Academy may be accommodated in time. Due to a surge in the demand for materials in these unprecedented times, no students who have signed up will be starting Aug. 31. We believe that some extra time will allow the situation to stabilize.”

Although all of the students that have requested enrollment in the cyber academy may remain in the program, there is now a waiting list for additional students. If a student wants to return to the hybrid setting instead of pursuing the cyber academy, they may do that as well but the parents “must call the building administration to set up an appointment to re-enter. Please do not show up to the building without having set up an appointment,” Lesisko said.

For the students who are staying in the cyber academy, they are encouraged to use their own Chromebook if they have one. This will free up Chromebooks for students who need them.

Lesisko also asked parents to not call the school to find out if their children are officially enrolled in the cyber academy.

“I am telling you today that all students who chose to enroll in the PV Cyber Academy will be accommodated in some fashion. Please understand that our goal is to get everyone started by Sept. 8, however if that date must change, we will contact you again,” he said.