The number of students requesting enrollment in Pleasant Valley Cyber Academy jumped from 329 on Aug. 4 to more than 1,200 students in the following weeks. The school district isn’t prepared to handle the influx.

Superintendent Lee Lesisko told the school board Thursday night that the cyber academy averages about 300 students each year. They can handle up to 500, but they don’t have enough supplies for another 700 students. School is supposed to start on Monday.

The cyber academy isn’t the same as the online platform the district used last spring for all students. The academy uses a combination of books with online instruction via Chromebooks.

The textbooks are on order and are coming in every day, but there won’t be enough come Monday. As for Chromebooks, students who have their own may use them.

Lesisko said purchasing more Chromebooks is a problem. There is a shortage of them.

School board Director Susan Kresge asked him how many Chromebooks are on order.

“We have none on order, because we can’t get any more,” he said.

“When were we notified of that?” she asked.

“We knew this back in April,” he said.

Lesisko said the school district has continued to try to get more Chromebooks, but there are shortages nationwide and imports of more of them are low. He plans to reach out to families of seniors who graduated to see if there are any Chromebooks with them that were not returned.

At this point, “we won’t have enough to cover 1,200 kids,” he said.

Kresge asked what is the district’s Plan B.

Lesisko said the plan is to start classes for the students that are fully enrolled in the cyber academy.

As for the remaining students, he said, “If we are not able to get the materials, the students will have to come back to school.”

“Has any communication gone out concerning these 700 that are not going to be able to attend our cyber?” Kresge asked.

Lesisko said a ConnectEd message was sent out to cyber families. They were told that the district is working as quickly as possible to process their requests, but they have not been told that there is a limit on the number of students that can be enrolled.

“We’re doing the best to bring all the kids in, as many as we can,” he said.

Kresge said she knows there are a couple people working on the cyber academy enrollment, but asked who is in charge of the program.

Before being hired as the school district’s superintendent in April, Lesisko was the director of the cyber academy. He told the school board directors that high school Principal Matthew Triolo has stepped in to assist, but didn’t say who was in charge.

School board Director Todd Kresge asked who Triolo is assisting, and Lesisko said, “The individuals who are running the cyber academy.”

Susan Kresge pressed further and said, “According to our organizational chart, he’s not in charge of cyber.”

“Not yet,” Lesisko said. “because I don’t have a technology coordinator in yet.”

School board Director Dan Wunder asked him how soon the position would get filled.

Lesisko said he talked to new Human Resources Director Jessica Tomon about the position earlier this week, and they plan to get it advertised soon.

Tomon was hired midsummer to replace John Burrus, who announced in May his intent to resign.

Also resigning in May were Josh Ziatyk, the assistant superintendent, and A.J. Kise, the director of pupil services. Ziatyk has not been replaced. Kise was replaced with Julie Harris, who was an education consultant in the school district. The title of the position was changed to director of special education.

Susan Kresge asked if there is enough room for the students who wanted to be in cyber to come back into the hybrid platform.

Lesisko said the original hybrid plan anticipated that those students would be coming into the school.

Triolo explained that it will take time to get them admitted and get their schedules ready. The schedules may not be ready for all of them by Monday, so they should not come to the schools until they hear from the school district about their schedule and class assignments. They will not be marked absent because of the delay.

Lesisko said he thinks the school district will be fine in admitting all of the students in the younger grades who want to go to the cyber academy. It is more difficult for the high school students because of all of the elective classes.