It's between classes, and a battle is brewing by the bathrooms. The combatants are beyond taunts and dirty looks. One student, fist drawn back, moves toward a teen-age boy twice her size.
Lead teacher Sherry Bell steps in briskly. "What's the problem here?" she asks coolly, shooing the girl off to class and escorting the boy in the opposite direction.
This is Project Succeed Academy, the North Fairmount school for Cincinnati Public Schools' worst discipline offenders. And while such clashes aren't unusual, the school's response is.
"These kids have been hollered at and screamed at most of their lives, so they don't respond to that," said Dr. Lionel Brown, the district's director of student affairs, who founded the 2-year-old alternative school.
"Many are psychotic, neurotic, bipolar -- they're fighting for survival. We have tried to create a caring, loving environment where kids are allowed to be kids."
Dr. Brown said that philosophy has succeeded, saving troubled students and helping to drive down the district's suspensions and expulsions by 27 percent.
He had planned to expand the kindergarten through eighth-grade school's enrollment from 460 to 500 students this year, as well as ultimately add ninth and tenth grades. Superintendent J. Michael Brandt last month proposed spending $712,200 this year on district discipline initiatives, which included the enrollment increase. But proposed budget cuts threaten not only to curtail those plans but to shrink the academy, Dr. Brown said. He estimates he could lose two to four teachers and several instructional assistants and case managers, forcing him to cut enrollment to 400 to maintain a low student-to-teacher ratio.
The proposed cuts have sparked a debate about the efficacy of a program critics complain is trying to do too much.
"Cincinnati Public Schools exists to educate children," school board member Lynn Marmer said. "We are not a rehabilitation organization. I personally have some concerns about Project Succeed and its ability to meet its original mission."
A different program
Project Succeed opened two years ago in a cramped building in the East End.
Most of the 300 students were chronic discipline offenders, racking up long records of detentions, suspensions and unexcused absences.
Some students' problems arose from sexual or physical abuse, or parental problems such as neglect or drug addiction.
So the academy offered a drastically different program to reach kids other schools couldn't. It includes:
Mandatory classes in the martial art Bushido to teach students self-discipline.
Weekly student court sessions, where unruly students are given community service, work details at school or revocation of privileges for such offenses as fighting, skipping school and vandalism. In other schools, such offenses might result in suspension. But the academy's goal is to keep students in school to be rehabilitated; suspensions are reserved for such offenses as fights resulting in serious injury.
Other academy students serve as jurors and attorneys, and real attorneys act as judge and advise the student attorneys, providing a learning experience for other students.
A health and wellness center, where students learn self-esteem and anger management.
A family health clinic. With two part-time nurse practitioners on staff and University of Cincinnati nursing students volunteering their time, the school has full-time nursing care. A psychologist and family medicine physician each donate four hours a week.
A case management office, where counselors ensure near-perfect attendance and take care of students' social-service needs. For example, if students miss the bus, a case manager drives to their home to take them to school. Case managers also refer students and their families to community agencies that can address specific needs.
A low student-to-teacher ratio. In fourth through eighth grade, it's 20:1; in kindergarten through third grade, it's 15:1, Dr. Brown said. The average class size in Ohio is 23 students for every teacher, according to the New Ohio Institute, a Toldeo-based research group.
"We have to heal them socially before we can begin to heal them academically," Dr. Brown said.
Critics cite costs
The formula has also proven popular. Last year, the school boosted its enrollment by about 150 and moved to roomier digs in the former Roll Hill School.
Yet it still has a waiting list of 800 to 1,000 students, Dr. Brown said.
Other educators are emulating Project Succeed's successes, he said.
Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Rosa A. Smith visited recently, looking for insights as administrators there fashion a similar alternative program.
Toledo and Dayton educators have adopted parts of the Project Succeed model, Dr. Brown said.
But some remain unconvinced. "I do not doubt that there are a large number of students who can benefit from intensive help, but I'm not sure Project Succeed is the answer," Ms. Marmer said. Among critics' concerns:
Cost. The district spends about $2.1 million from its general-fund budget on Project Succeed, or $7,076 per pupil, according to October 1997 figures. The district average is $6,800 per pupil, according to the Ohio Board of Education. Those figures don't include federal funds from the Title I program, which provides extra money to schools with high concentrations of poor students.
State grants worth $470,000 also have expired, prompting cuts in the academy's budget, district Treasurer Richard Gardner said. School board members also have stressed that any additional spending should support converting the district's half-day kindergartens to all-day programs. "There are a lot of demands on district money. This is one of those times when you have to balance prevention vs. cure," Ms. Marmer said.
Length of stay. When proposed, Project Succeed was supposed to keep students for six months before returning them to their neighborhood schools. Instead, most are enrolled for at least a year, and many probably need two years to ensure lasting results, Mr. Brown said. "I realize students' problems are very complicated, but I wish we could more rapidly address them," school board member Harriet Russell said.
Severity of students' problems. Community-based programs may be more equipped to rehabilitate students with the deep-rooted problems some Project Succeed students have, Ms. Marmer said.
Academy successes. Positive results must be verified before an expansion is approved, administrators say. "We need to make sure we're delivering results, and not just willy-nilly start expanding," Superintendent J. Michael Brandt said.
School board members directed administrators to evaluate the program's efficacy. A report is expected at the board's July 15 meeting.
Academy advocates stood firm in their support.
"If we invest the money on the front end, we won't have to spend it on the back end," Bushido teacher Eugene Fields said, adding that intervention is key in righting wayward students.
