Are all public schools like this, is this progress?

I had a conversation with my sister regarding her son and school.

Her son a fifth grader, all A student, he did get one B this year, is being pulled out of class for electronic tutoring because he didn’t pass the “Universal Comprehension Test(?)” This is the second time. The first time was math related and I didn’t get all the details on that incident. But apparently they pulled him out of English class to take an online tutorial.

This time he failed the Reading so many words per min out loud without a certain amount of mistakes and comprehending the content.

They informed my sister they would be pulling him out of math class to take another online tutorial. She is fighting it, and they have delayed making the determination until she has her appt with the superintendant.

She also informed me that without consent or notification they set up a google plus account for their students and when she found out about it and voiced her concern said it was an essential part of the curriculum.

That not sending notification was an oversight that they still have not corrected months down the road.

Another issue I was appalled at was the mandatory counseling class they take, once again this “class” was not on his class list they sent home and it was “unnecessary to inform the parent, because it is not something they can opt out of.”
She also told me as a fifth grader every single one of his academic classes is taught partially online.

I admit I am out of touch with public schools. Is this normal? Do parents think this beneficial to their children? What about non parents, or the students out there: is this a healthy approach to teaching?