The new owners of Bellevue-based Insight School of Washington said Monday night that the school will remain open.

On Friday afternoon, the state Employment Security Department noted on its website that Insight Schools had issued layoff notices to 168 employees, effective July 18.

Such notices are standard when a company is bought, and that's the case with this layoff notice, said Jeff Kwitowski, vice president of public affairs for K12 Inc. K12 recently bought the kindergarten-12th grade assets of Kaplan Virtual Education, which included Insight Schools.

"It's important to state clearly that the Insight School in Washington will not close," Kwitowski wrote in an email to Patch on Monday night. "It will continue to operate under K12's management. While the individuals will no longer be employed by Insight, K12 Inc. fully expects to make offers to many of those teachers and other staff members."

Insight School of Washington is a statewide online high school that is under contract by the Quillayute Valley School District in Forks, Wash. Though the school is a program of the Quillayute Valley district, any high school student in the state can enroll in the virtual program, which is a tuition-free public school that provides students with a computer and conducts all classes online.

K12 Inc. operates other public online schools in Washington through other districts, including Washington Virtual Academies, iQ Academy, Bethel Learning Academy, and others.