BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- Although plans for a Middletown alternative school have hit a snag, officials still expect that site and another in Hamilton will open sometime this fall.
Butler County commissioners on Monday rejected a bid for a Middletown site that would serve expelled and suspended youths, saying the cost was too high. More bids on that project will be accepted until Aug. 25.
Meanwhile, commissioners approved a one-year lease in Hamilton, at Grace Chapel - The Good Samaritan Inn, 550 S. 12th St. Operations should begin at that site by the end of next month. It's not crucial for the facilities to open at the very beginning of the school year, officials say, because discipline problems resulting in expulsion and suspension usually don't start until mid-October.
At least two other alternative schools have been operating in Butler County, but those serve multiple districts and fewer students, said Brad Beckett, the commissioners' administrative assistant.
The Hamilton and Middletown sites will be different because they each could serve several hundred students from their respective districts and also will house other services, Mr. Beckett said. Commissioners hope the Hamilton and Middletown sites will become models for the rest of the state.
Commissioners agreed to pay almost $19,000 a month to lease the Hamilton site and $14,300 a month more to refurbish it, bringing the total monthly cost to about $33,000.
But that's considerably less than the $52,000 monthly cost for the Middletown facility at 115 City Centre Mall. Most of that cost -- nearly $45,000 -- would have gone toward refurbishing.
The Middletown site's cost "far exceeds the funding allocated" for the space, says the commissioners' resolution that rejected the bid.
However, commissioners remain confident that the Middletown project will go forward, Mr. Beckett said, "because all kinds of people are pulling together to find a site." Local officials, community leaders and civic groups have all been working on the project, he said.
The Hamilton and Middletown projects, which are being funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Ohio Department of Human Services, will be managed by the Butler County Juvenile Court. Through the programs, suspended and expelled youngsters in grades 7-12 in the Middletown-Monroe and Hamilton school districts will be able to continue work toward their high school diplomas.
Besides offering typical school courses, the schools also will evaluate students to determine what causes their disruptive behavior. Mental health and substance-abuse counselors will try to help the students change their attitudes and behavior.
