The teachers of Monterey High School’s Spanish I, Spanish II and survey of the arts class have an attendance problem &045;&045; they never come to class.

But neither the principal nor the superintendent seem to care, in fact they both seem quite happy with those classes.

That’s because the teachers, located in Nacogdoches and Baton Rouge, are part of the Louisiana Virtual School.

Students in the three classes attend a regular class period at the school where they sit in front of their own computer and work from a Web site frequently used in college courses.

The online teacher posts assignments, tests and other materials for the students to work through. They still have regular deadlines, but they are slightly more flexible.

Each class has a facilitator, an on-site teacher, who is in the room during the class to assist with technical problems, but not with academic questions.

The virtual school is new to Monterey this year, but is opening doors that were previously closed, said Paula Paul, the district technology assistant and the coordinator for the virtual school in the parish.

&uot;We can offer more opportunities,&uot; Paul said. &uot;We’ll be able to offer higher quality programs and students will be exposed to more.&uot;

Because Monterey is a rural school with a small student body there often aren’t enough students interested in a class for the district to find and hire a teacher. It is also often hard to find a certified teacher who wants to travel to the district, Paul said. The virtual school offers nearly every course imaginable and helps Monterey students get necessary credits to qualify for the TOPS scholarship program for college.

Samantha Baker is in Spanish I and the visual arts class. &uot;I have to have it for TOPS,&uot; Baker said. &uot;It is kind of hard to get used to, but you can go at your own pace.&uot;

The Spanish students are required to record their voices and send the file attachment to their teacher for grading. The fine arts students take field trips to performances, like the Natchez Little Theater’s recent &uot;Auntie Mame&uot; production.

Brad Lipsey, the on-site coordinator of the program and the facilitator in the Spanish classes, said he thinks the students have a major advantage. &uot;It gives a small school like Monterey that can’t always offer a variety of courses a chance to offer them,&uot; Lipsey said. &uot;This has opened up a whole new world.&uot;

Lipsey taught Spanish at the school in the past, but is no longer eligible under new No Child Left Behind standards. He said he was confident that the virtual school did a better job teaching than he could have.

Some of Lipsey’s former students say they’d still rather have a live teacher though, but are happy with the virtual program if it is most feasible. &uot;(Having a teacher) is more personal, and you can ask questions without waiting on an e-mail,&uot; senior Morgan White said. &uot;But I think this will probably help us.&uot;

The only cost to the district was the purchase of recording headsets for the Spanish students; a computer lab was already set up at the school.

Paul said she hopes to expand the program to other classes and other parish schools in the coming years.