GCSVP Parent/Student Contract 2026-2027
Parents and Students,
Welcome to Greenville County Schools’ Virtual Program (GCSVP) and the virtual classroom environment. Although our classroom environment is virtual (online), the standards of instruction and behavior are as important, if not more important, than they are in the brick and mortar school setting. Our courses use Google Classroom, making access to course materials and assignments easy for parents, students and teachers!
Our virtual classrooms are real classrooms with real teachers; therefore, attendance, participation, and appropriate student behavior are expected at all times. To ensure that all GCSVP parents and students understand the expectations of the virtual learning environment, we have developed this GCS Virtual Program Parent and Student Contract for the 26-27 school year. It is the companion to the GCS Behavior Code (JCDA) and the GCS Acceptable Use Policy.
Attendance:
All virtual classes are offered at scheduled times with a live teacher to provide instruction. Students are expected to participate every day in live sessions at those scheduled times. Students are counted present when they are fully present and engaged in a Google Meet for the entire time of instruction, and are required to have their cameras on while in class (full face visible). When taking any major assessment, students’ faces must be clearly seen for the entire time (full face visible). Students are not allowed to be riding in or driving cars during Google Meets.
Attendance will be taken daily in accordance with the Compulsory School Attendance Law and S.C. Code of Regulations. Uniform rules have been adopted and are aligned with those used in all Greenville County Schools. Click Here to review guidelines and Board Policy regarding absences, tardiness, and truancy.
Greenville County Schools’ Chromebooks may not work outside of the United States, and leaving the country may result in being dropped from the Virtual Program. Parents must contact the virtual administrator if a student will be leaving the country regardless of the reason and regardless of the amount of time the student will be out of the country.
When students travel outside of South Carolina, the Virtual Program administrator must be notified and approve of the dates the student will be out of the state.
Each home-based school in Greenville County will provide a Chromebook, with a camera to each of their students at the beginning of the year. This is the required and only device for students to use for anything they do in the Virtual Program. Also, this Chromebook is the required device they must use for any type of district or state assessments. Failure to use the district-issued Chromebook could result in a student being returned to their home-based school. In addition, students may only be issued and use one district-issued Chromebook to participate in the Virtual Program.
Participation:
Students must have cameras on at all times during class, with full face visible, in order to be counted present, unless previously approved by an administrator. Students are not allowed to attend classes using a mobile/cell phone, unless they have prior permission from administration (this will only be granted in emergency situations or extenuating circumstances and not as a regular occurrence).
Similar to being present in a brick and mortar classroom, teachers will monitor students’ active participation in discussion and instruction. Students should be up, dressed according to (the home-based schools’) dress code, in an appropriate setting and ready to work.
Students must follow the rules and procedures put in place through any proctoring or monitoring programs utilized by faculty or staff members of the Virtual Program.
Students should complete all of their work independently, including all assessments assigned by the teacher, without parent assistance.
Student grades, attendance, and behavior will be monitored at each interim and at the end of each quarter. Students with a 2.0 GPA or below in Grades 1-12 will be put on probation and could result in a return to the home-based school. Students with 5 or more unexcused absences in one academic quarter (1-8) or one academic semester (9-12) will be put on probation and could result in a return to the home-based school. Click Here to review guidelines and Board Policy regarding absences, tardiness, and truancy.
Work should be submitted by the due date and time given for each assignment and according to each individual teacher. Late assignment submissions will follow the guidelines outlined in each Student Handbook. Blank assignments submitted through Google Classroom will be noted, returned, and marked as late.
Late Work Information can be found in the Handbooks linked below (Section Q.):
District and State Testing:
Statewide testing must be completed in-person at the student’s home based school.
Students must attend Brick and Mortar Sites for scheduled statewide assessments (SC Ready, SC READY/PASS, COGAT & IOWA (2nd Grade) and MAP for GT (2-8), End-of-Course Assessments, etc.) as required by South Carolina. Transportation will be provided for students enrolled in Greenville County Schools using the GCS transportation guidelines.
All out-of-county, out-of-district or out-of-state students must provide their own transportation.
Students who do not show up for any required district or statewide testing, including all testing that takes place virtually or in-person at a physical location, will NOT be eligible to participate in the Virtual Program for the 2027-2028 school year and beyond.
Students must follow the rules and procedures put in place through any proctoring or monitoring programs utilized by faculty or staff members of the Virtual Program.
Academic Integrity:
The integrity and authenticity of student work is something that we take seriously and check using a variety of technologies.
GCS Board Policy JCDA in its entirety, including, but not limited to, the section regarding Personal Electronic Devices During the School Day.
Intellectual Integrity/Honesty violations may include:
Cutting, copying or plagiarizing Internet content, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), content from print sources, or the work of other online classmates is considered a violation of this Code of Conduct. In addition, allowing others to knowingly copy your work, and/or misusing content from the Internet are considered violations of this Code of Conduct.
This applies to all assignments, whether completed independently or as a group.
PLAGIARISM=CHEATING
Plagiarism includes:
Turning in another’s work as one’s own
Including a source but failing to cite it
Copying an author’s exact words and passing them off as one’s own
Plagiarism is NOT acceptable. If you are suspected of submitting another’s work as your own (including AI generated), you may be subject to an interview/meeting with the teacher and possibly an administrator to discuss the details of your work and be questioned about it. Should it be determined that the work is not your own, you will receive a 50 (ES/MS) and a 0 (HS) and a phone call to your parent/guardian.
Having someone other than the student, including a parent, family member, tutor or friend complete part of or all of your work, including assessments is considered a violation of this Code of Conduct and could result in, but not limited to, a return to your home-based school.
Working together is useful in the traditional classroom, but is not permitted in our online environment without specific teacher instructions to do so. Collaboration (working with) other students on your assignments unless you are directed to do so by your online teacher is considered a violation of this Code of Conduct.
Not following the rules and procedures put in place through any proctoring or monitoring programs utilized by faculty or staff members of the Virtual Program.
Interaction with Others:
Only teacher-created Google Meets are approved for student use. Students should not attempt to use old links, other social media tools, or non-approved apps to connect with students outside of the GCS Virtual Classroom setting.
When emailing or talking to the teacher, students and parents should address all GCSVP faculty and staff members in a polite and courteous manner appropriate for education professionals.
Parents, guardians and other family members or friends are not permitted in the Google Meets. If there are any issues, an email should be sent to the teacher to set up a phone call or conference. Failure to follow this procedure could result in the student being returned to their Home-Based School.
GCSVP students are expected to check their email regularly (several times a day).
GCSVP students should only use their GCS Student Email Address or Google Classroom when corresponding with GCSVP Faculty.
Since our online environment is a learning environment, students should not use excessive “slang” or language they might use in phone text messages.
All communications with other students enrolled in the GCSVP class should be of a school-related nature. Any sending of unsolicited email to other GCSVP online classmates is prohibited.
All communications with other students in any forum, whether Google Meets, course-related email, discussion posts, etc., must be polite, courteous and respectful.
Students are not to use obscene, profane, threatening, or disrespectful language, images or video in any communications.
GCSVP students are subject to all local, state, and federal laws governing the Internet. Consequently, program administrators will cooperate fully with local, state, federal officials in any investigation related to illegal activities conducted through Internet access.
Greenville County Schools monitors student use of district technology and applications to help monitor student safety.
All students must login to Google Meets/Google Classroom and all other applications/resources/programs used by GCSVP using their school-issued Google Account. Students are prohibited from using personal electronic devices or personal accounts to participate in or complete assignments with GCSVP.
Students must follow the rules and procedures put in place through any proctoring or monitoring programs utilized by faculty or staff members of the Virtual Program.
Parent Communication:
In order to ensure ongoing communication about student grades, attendance, progress, and behavior, parents must have a Parent BackPack with Educational Decision Making Rights.
Parents must update contact information if there are any changes in address or telephone number(s).
Please report any issues with the Chromebook as soon as possible to avoid being marked absent or encounter other issues submitting assignments on time.
Parents must join their students' Google Classrooms as a guardian.
Adherence To All GCSVP Handbooks and Their Contents:
**Note: All Student Handbooks and the Parent/Student Contract for 26-27 and 27-28 are subject to change based on actions taken by district administration or the Greenville County School Board prior to the 26-27 school year.**
