Employees of the local branch of online academy Insight Schools will be a casualty of a pending deal between two national Internet education companies.
K12 Inc. agreed on May 19 to purchase various assets from Kaplan Virtual Education, including Insight Schools, a network of online institutions throughout the country. Following the purchase, K12 has been making changes to Insight, including layoffs throughout its branches, and as many as 168 people could lose their jobs at the Bellevue office, the headquarters for the Insight School of Washington.
The state employment department announced that those employees received Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications. Jeff Kwitowski, spokesman for K12, said these notices are common practice and do not indicate that all the employees will be laid off. In fact, he said, many of the employees will be offered jobs once the transition of ownership is complete.
“These folks obviously know the school,” Kwitowski said. “Many of them will receive offers.”
He declined to say how many of these 168 people would be offered positions. Insight School of Washington Executive Director Jeff Bush did not return calls requesting comment.
Insight School of Washington falls under the umbrella of the Quillayute Valley School District in Forks, but its primary offices are located on Bel-Red Road. The school offers tuition-free online programs to students throughout the state, allowing people to take classes that fit their schedule.
Insight Schools were owned by Kaplan for only a couple months. The education company most known for its SAT preparation materials purchased the network of online K-12 schools in February from Apollo Group Inc., which owns the online educator University of Phoenix.
Kwitowski said students won’t notice significant changes at the school while the transition of ownership takes place.
K12 already operates online school programs in the state called the Washington Virtual Academies. Washington Virtual Academies is split over the Monroe, Omak and Steilacoom school districts.
