Baltimore County (Map, News) - Parents of students in Baltimore County’s public virtual school said they are furious County Executive Jim Smith chose not to fund the program in next year’s budget after they were personally recruited for a pilot version.

The county last year solicited about 120 formerly home-schooled students to try a new online curriculum that allows students in kindergarten through high school to learn from home via the Internet. Despite rave reviews from parents — and a recommendation by the county school board to expand the program — no funding for the program is included in Smith’s proposed 2009 budget.

“This program helps my children out tremendously,” said parent Amy Sparks, of Rosedale. “Now they are telling us, ‘Goodbye, see ya, we are closing your school.’ ”

A private vendor, Connections Academy, provided the yearlong pilot program free to the county to demonstrate the potential success, said company president Barbara Dreyer.

The county did not guarantee future funding, but Dreyer said the program is generating new state and federal dollars into county schools by moving home-schooled students into the public system.

The program could at least break even, if not be a money generator for the county, she said.

“Funds generated by students should at least stay with them and could keep the program running for those currently involved,” Dreyer said.

But county administrators said the program would cost about $2 million to operate, and that each student only generates about $3,400 of state education funding.

During a tight budget year, Smith’s spokeswoman Ellen Kobler said any new programs would have had to be tied to the findings of a curriculum audit conducted last year.

“This has no connection to that,” Kobler said. “It doesn’t jive with the budget reality.”

County school officials said parents were told the program was a one-year test. School officials said they have no plans to lobby members of the County Council — who can delete items from the budget but not add to it — for funding.

“It did what it was supposed to do,” said schools spokesman Charles Herndon.

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com