Lakeland schools continue dual enrollment at NIC

North Idaho College’s accreditation status was addressed Wednesday evening during a regular meeting of the Lakeland Joint School Board.

“I received an email from a constituent who is extremely concerned about our district being on top of the concern over NIC,” Board Chair Michelle Thompson said.

Lakeland district schools offer a handful of dual credit courses through NIC.

Lisa Arnold, the district's superintendent, told trustees she has had concerns and that she didn't want to continue using NIC as a dual credit college if there was a chance the credits Lakeland students earned would not be honored.

“They’re still fully accredited so we’re able to finish this semester,” Arnold told the board. “At the end of this school year, we can make the decision about what the board is most comfortable with, and this summer is plenty of time to make that decision, if that’s what you choose to do. There are other colleges in the state who are willing to run the dual credit for us.”

The Lakeland School District can immediately pursue dual enrollment options with Northwest Nazarene University in central Idaho as an alternative option to NIC. The process is simple and could take little time, Arnold said.

Arnold said she has had conversations with the Idaho State Board of Education to understand what a loss of NIC’s accreditation could mean for the district, how long that could take and what the district's options would be if it happens.

She said she has been assured by the state board that the process to revoke NIC’s accreditation could take years.

The superintendent assured trustees that there is no immediate need to take action.

"I don’t want to be reactionary," Arnold said. "NIC is working through this.”

Arnold said she has been in communication with North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, which recently announced it is scaling back its dual credit offerings through NIC. She said the charter school is not completely cutting ties with the community college.

“I do think it’s important that our parents and our kids understand that we definitely are concerned about it,” Trustee Bob Jones said. “We’re concerned about the — how do you characterize it? — situation at NIC, and what impact it may have. There’s a potential for an impact, even financially. They could charge more as a result, from loss of revenue in other ways. So it’s important we really stay on top of this and understand.

“I think they’re putting themselves in a box. I don’t know how many people I talk to that say, ‘My nephew or my grandson is not going to go to NIC until they get this thing straightened out.’”