There are still unfilled high school science teacher positions in the Fort Dodge Community School District, so the School Board approved a $70,000 contract with Elevate K-12, of Chicago, to provide virtual teachers.

The virtual teachers will teach seven periods of physics each semester. A paraprofessional will be in the classroom to supervise the students during the classes.

According to the request from Kirsten Doebel, FDCSD director of secondary education, there are only two companies that provide virtual teacher services to the level of the district’s needs — Elevate K-12 and Proximity Learning. The district previously used Proximity Learning for Spanish classes at FDSH.

“We entered into an agreement with Proximity last year, and they did not meet the terms of our agreement, and we backed out of our partnership with them,” Doebel wrote to the board.

Proximity Learning’s teachers were not Iowa-certified instructors, so the district had to cancel its contract, Fort Dodge Senior High Principal Staci Laird said. Elevate K-12 is certified in the state of Iowa, she said.

The contract will be paid out of the general programming fund.