Lee, New Century to remain separate schools under one roof

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:16 PM     Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:19 PM By Crystal Bonvillian, The Huntsville Times 

Workers with ABG Caulking and Waterproofing of Goodlettsville, Tenn., fill expansion joints in front of the new Lee High School on Meridian Street Thursday. Lee and New Century Technology will remain separate schools, but share the new building when it opens in the fall. (The Huntsville Times/Glenn Baeske)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The fates of two Huntsville high schools and the district's alternative school were decided Thursday night, with the school board voting to keep Lee and New Century Technology as separate high schools under one roof in the fall and to close the Seldon Center at the end of this school year.

The board approved -- to applause from the crowd in the board room of the Annie C. Merts Center -- the Lee/New Century merger Thursday night upon the recommendation of Superintendent Casey Wardynski. The superintendent's recommendation came after months of work by a community engagement committee tasked with finding a solution for the schools' merger.

Wardynski faced criticism from the Lee community in November after he suggested changing the school's name to reflect the merger with New Century, which is currently housed at Columbia High School. He backed off the name change and appointed the committee to determine what would best serve the students and community.

Melissa Thompson, president of the Huntsville Council of PTAs, moderated the committee, which included two PTA representatives, two parents, two teachers, a student and an alumnus from each school. It also included community representatives from Redstone Arsenal, neighborhood associations, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, the Northeast Civic Association, the Huntsville Association of Realtors and the Huntsville Planning Commission.

The committee looked at the qualities that each school brings to the table, such as Lee's tradition, history, magnet programs and sports, Thompson said. New Century brings academic achievement, curriculum concentration areas and opportunities with companies in Research Park. Both have diverse student bodies.

Three options were discussed -- a complete merger of the two schools, a hybrid situation where they would share core classes and keeping them as two separate schools under one roof. That is the relationship New Century already has with Columbia High.

Thompson said committee members did not agree unanimously on the recommendation, but that there was a strong consensus toward maintaining both schools' identities.

"Neither one is a stepchild; they are sharing a space," Thompson said.

Wardynski thanked Thompson and the committee members for their efforts.

"Forty years from now when this school is doing amazing things, no one will know where this amazement has come from," Wardynski said. "But it has come from this committee."

Stewart Thorson, principal of New Century, also thanked the committee.

"We are excited about the move," Thorson said. "We're excited about getting our name on the front of a building."

Lee High is keeping its identity, but losing its principal. The board voted to move Paul Parvin, who has served as principal of Lee since 2007, to the central office as director of instructional support and athletics. Aaron King, Wardynksi's transition director, said Parvin, also a former football coach, will share duties with Kevin Wieseman, who is currently in that position.

No interim principal has been put in place, but one is anticipated to be chosen by the next board meeting, King said.

The board also approved a contract with The Pinnacle Schools, a Huntsville-based treatmentprogram for troubled youth that will replace the Seldon Center. The change is designed to give the students more intensive, and more cost-efficient, treatment.

Wardynski told the board that the district spends about $18,500 per student each year at the Seldon Center. The cost per student at Pinnacle is about $11,000.

"The effect on Seldon Center will be, at the end of this school year, the Seldon staff will work in other schools and the Seldon Center will no longer be part of the district in terms of instruction," Wardynski said.

Other programs currently run out of Seldon, such as the homebound program, will be moved to other schools, the superintendent said.

The Pinnacle Schools has a Huntsville campus that provides alternative, year-round education to at-risk teens in grades 6 through 12. There is also the Elk River Treatment Program, a short-term intervention program that provides diagnostic, assessment, educational and treatment services. The Elk River program length ranges from eight weeks to a year.

The Elk River campus also has a transitional program, where students can stay up to a year, and a weight-management program aimed at combating childhood obesity.