Thursday some Missouri families got disheartening news; their unique public school is going private, and that means they'll have to pay to stay.

“Can you raise your hand and let me know that you've looked at it?" says a voice from the computer.

Rhona Alsabban is in class.

She’s in Purdy, her teacher is in Columbia, and she can see Rhona raising her hand, even though she isn't.

“You have a ‘check’ or an ‘X’ where you can ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ask a question,” Rhona explains.

For the last two years the sixth grader has been going to school online.

Rhona and her older sister enrolled in MoVIP.

“I initially just went on and googled for free home schooling."

Fed up with the public school system, Paula, the girls’ mother, discovered its online equivalent.

“A lot of the classes they offer up there are general classes, but these are advanced classes. They have a lot of language, advanced placement, honors- a lot of those just aren't offered here,” Paula tells us in reference to Purdy.

But in a matter of months they won't be offered to the Alsabban's either.

Governor Jay Nixon announced he's cutting half of the program's funding next semester; the other half has already been used this semester.

“We certainly hope it can survive."

The crux is MoVIP will have to try to do so on student tuition, but most of the 1,600 kids attend for free.

“The state won't be able to provide that subsidy for the free classes for second semester,” says DESE spokesperson Jim Morris.

At $365 a class, the Alsabban's virtual reality bites.

Another concern is the program employs about 50 teachers based in Columbia, and if fewer students can afford to participate in MoVIP, some of those teachers will lose their jobs.

Funding has not been determined yet for the 2010-2011 school year.