DULUTH SCHOOLS

The prospect of Duluth becoming a two-high school city inched closer to reality Wednesday.

During a three-hour brainstorming session, School Board members said residents should begin preparing themselves for that eventuality, even though the change could be an emotional jolt.

"I think we have to take the three high school discussion out of the box,'' said board member Robert S. Mars Jr. during Wednesday night's meeting at the Central Administration Building. Given enrollment projections, the change may have to be made within six years, he said.

Member Harry Welty has lobbied for the change for more than a year but, until Wednesday, his proposal received a cool reception from other members. Attitudes were much different when the board took a new look at its long-range plan. One board member, Dorothy Neumann, suggested the district should consider going beyond closing just one high school.

"I see East High School closing and becoming a middle school and Denfeld closing to become a middle school and Central becoming the one high school for the city,'' she said.

An analysis should precede any change, board member Mary Glass-LeBlanc said.

Other long-term goals should remain unchanged, board members said during their informal discussion.

Although the district aspires to configure schools in a grade K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 format, board members said they're comfortable with the existing system. It includes some K-6 elementary schools, along with a K-8 format at Lincoln Park School.

Board members reiterated their support of the middle school pilot project, an effort to nurture students during those vulnerable years by providing additional teaching and counseling resources. It is being tested in Morgan Park, where the school receives supplemental state and federal money plus supplemental local money that supports three extra teachers.

Member Garry Krause, however, questioned the program's success. He said the percentage of eighth-graders who recently passed the Minnesota basic skills test was disappointing.

"I find this very troubling,'' he said.

Addressing the conversion to a six-period day, Superintendent Julio Almanza said administrators continue to discuss alternatives with the Duluth Federation of Teachers. The union has proposed allocating staff training money to maintain the seven-period system.

"But this is, in all honesty, a short-term solution. It cannot be maintained,'' Almanza said.