Lagging students may gain alternative

COLUMBUS -- Columbus Public Schools students who are lagging behind in the classroom could have a better chance at earning a diploma with the district’s plan to launch an alternative school beginning in 2009-10.

That was the message the CPS Board of Education heard on Monday night during a review of an alternative school proposal aimed at helping “at-risk” students keep pace in the classroom while achieving higher overall graduation rates.

The purpose of the alternative school program, labeled Pathways to Success, is to help the students who are at-risk of not graduating gain the skills and experiences they need to graduate, Columbus Middle School Principal Doug Kluth told the board.

The strategy behind the alternative school would be to catch at-risk students at an earlier age, meet their educational needs and, over time, shrink the high school’s dropout rate, Kluth said.

“This school would not be a dumping ground for students who are chronic discipline problems,’’ the CMS principal said.

The first step toward creating an alternative school would come in 2008-09 with the hiring of a lead teacher who would lead the staffing and development of curriculum.

Kluth said a lead teacher would organize a committee to tour alternative schools that have been developed in other school districts around the state, including a successful program under way in Kearney.

Monday’s plan had sharply lower staffing costs compared to a version proposed about a year ago. The new plan envisions staffing costs of about $150,000 annually; the earlier proposal estimated costs from $230,000-$400,000.

The earlier proposal for middle and high school students was prepared with the expectation that new teaching staff would need to be hired. Monday’s plan provides for existing teaching staff from the middle and high schools to transfer to the alternative school.

The school plan calls for using a portable building that is now located east of the high school for the new alternative school. The portable building would be moved to a lot the district owns on the west side of the administration building.

The alternative school would have a capacity of about 100 students, evenly split for one-half day schedules in the morning and afternoon. The students would spend the other half of their school day attending classes at the middle or high schools.

Work experience and community service activities also could be worked into students’ schedules.

In other business, a board subcommittee spurned a request by a delegation of Duncan residents for the district to overturn an earlier decision to close the community’s elementary school at the end of this year.

The board voted 3-2 last June to close the school because of dwindling enrollment and rising per-pupil operation costs.

The subcommittee, made up of board members Ken Curry, Ron Ziola and Barb Lehr, continues to believe the board’s June 2007 decision to close the Duncan school makes sense from a business perspective, Curry told the delegation.

The delegation presented the board with a fact sheet in January noting that nine new families had moved to the community since the June 2007 vote. In contacts with local residents, the group reported there were 19 children from newborn to 2 years old and 13 children aged 3-4.

A chart provided by the Duncan group projected those children would increase the school’s enrollment from 23 this year to 30 and 29 in the next three years.

Curry said the board appreciates the information provided by the Duncan group and the members’ commitment to keeping the community school open. He said the district will continue to address transportation issues arising from Duncan students attending elementary schools in Columbus.

In another matter, board members Chris Dixon and Ziola announced they would not be seeking re-election during May’s primary. Friday is the deadline for incumbent candidates to file for re-election.

“I’m going to volunteer for (the district’s) after-school programs,’’ said Dixon, a two-term board member and retired teacher. “I’d just as soon use my expertise in the classroom. I know I’m leaving the board in good hands.”

Ziola said he would not be seeking a fourth term on the board.

“I will not be on the primary ballot ... kind of a self-imposed term limit. We’ve been able to attack of lot of different issues during my 12 years on the board,” Ziola said while thanking other board members.