I was e-mailed some documents that give a little more detail about the Manual High School restructuring plans, and I thought some of my readers might be interested in reading them:

Draft Cover Letter for MHS Final Report
Final Report Draft
MHS Restructuring Plans and Recommendations
MHS Restructuring Recommendations for Special Education

They’re generally adopting the Talent Development High Schools model from Johns Hopkins University. Plans call for lengthening the school day by 45 minutes and school year by five days, requiring parents to commit to one parent activity per month, and reorganizing the school into “academies.” They also want to make Manual a “choice school,” meaning anyone in the district can attend. They would provide bus transportation to all students attending Manual, no matter where in the city they live. That will make for an interesting bus schedule.

Some other things they want to add are a “publicly funded health center and expansion of a child care center in the facility to served [sic] both staff and parents’ children ages birth to five,” “a full time business liaison coordinator to work with members of the business community and school personnel,” and facility improvements “to support small learning communities, culture and climate, and increased security.”

No cost information is included here, but according to the Journal Star’s article:

Additional operational costs of the program, if implemented at the beginning of the 2007-08 school year, were estimated at about $810,000 beyond the current $4.9 million operational expenditures, Treasurer Guy Cahill said Monday. More cost details are expected by the board’s Jan. 22 meeting.

What are your thoughts on plans to restructure Manual High?