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Elementary school students in Utah soon may be able to go to school without ever having to leave home.

Given the success of the state's electronic high school, Utah education officials hope to expand their online offerings to students from kindergarten through eighth grade. While the new "school" is still in the planning stages, the time is right for its virtual doors to open, officials say.

"We feel we're a little bit late and we need to be giving leadership to this statewide," said Ray Timothy, deputy state schools superintendent.

School districts that have their own online programs have been overwhelmed by demand, he said. The state's Electronic High School currently has about 22,000 students taking one or more courses. Like the high school, the K-8 program would be available to all students whether they are in traditional public schools, charter schools or are home-schooled.

But unlike the high school, the curriculum may not be locally produced, at least at first.

"We don't feel like we have the luxury of time to start now and write all our own content," Timothy said.

A K-8 online program the state likely would obtain from a content provider would offer younger students curriculum based on Utah academic requirements. It would mean more options for home-schooled students or provide a way to accelerate learning for gifted students. Other students who may use it may simply need to make up lost credits.

One difference with an online school for younger students would be that parents would need to be more involved, said Kathleen Webb, principal of the online high school.

If the state does move forward with the K-8 plan, it may have competition.

State Charter School Board members on Thursday discussed the possibility of an online charter school just weeks after Utah lawmakers rejected a proposed "virtual" charter school that would have been set up by the State Education Office.

The idea, according to board chairman Scott Smith, would be to create an independently created school like any other charter school, but online.

"We want our students to have the opportunity to compete with the rest of the United States having online capabilities," he said. "This is not something new to the country."

But not every board member sees the merit in potentially duplicating the state's efforts. Board member John Pingree wants to wait.

"My initial reaction would be let's see what they do," he said.

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* JULIA LYON can be contacted at jlyon@sltrib.com or 801-257-8748.

Online school

* The online school has been in operation since 1994 and provides numerous courses for credit. Additional courses are added each year as interest and funding permit.

* Courses are developed by master teachers and meet state education standards and objectives. Students may enroll at any time and complete courses by demonstrating competency through testing. Most students spend about 50 hours to complete a quarter credit, or about 200 hours for a full credit.

* Courses are free to Utah students. Students who live outside of Utah are charged $50 per quarter per course.

* For more information on Utah's Electronic High School, visit www. ehs.uen.org.