Lake Orion High School and Learning Options High School administrators are currently developing a program that could house Learning Options students at LOHS.
Currently, Learning Options operates out of the Community Education Resource Center (CERC), located near LOHS on Scripps Road.
The LO School Board is considering the proposal to move the alternative high school to LOHS, which could save the district $238,190. Four staff positions would be reduced.
Learning Options Principal Lauren Sanborn told board members at their March 22 meeting that Learning Options would be a ‘school within a school? at LOHS, with the plan being to have the alternative high school students use classrooms in LOHS? special education wing.
‘We’re still working on the structure of the day,? she said. ‘Some students will struggle at first, but there are ways to individualize their schedules so they don’t have to go out into the general education population.?
Sanborn said each student’s schedule will ‘look really different.? She anticipates an enrollment of about 70 students next year.
LOHS Associate Principal Darin Abbasse said LOHS is concerned about the special education students, and that this would be the best situation for these times.
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Curriculum Dave Beiter added that Learning Options students would not be able to meet the state’s new high school graduation requirements at the current site at CERC.
One parent told the board she was concerned about the special education students.
‘They already get picked on,? she said. ‘And they are already so isolated…this will only isolate them more.?
She referred to the part of the proposal to house special education students at one end of the wing.
Sanborn stressed that the students from Learning Options weren’t violent.
‘A majority are anxious or withdrawn,? she said. ‘They have trouble in a large population (of students).?
Sanborn noted that the Learning Options program is currently housed near the Early Childhood program at CERC, and that the students regularly interact with the young children there, without problems.
‘I could see something developing along those lines,? she said of the new proposal. ?(Learning Options) is a highly structured environment…The students step up to the plate.?
School board Vice President Bob Gritzinger said he was not only concerned about the special education students, but all of the students at LOHS.
Abbasse stressed that the plan was still in the very early stages.
‘But it’s safety first,? he said.