Rich Minder isn’t on the Lawrence school board yet, but he’s pushing an alternative to closing East Heights School: Eliminate the Lawrence Alternative High School.

Minder was elected this month but must stay on the sidelines until July 1, long after the current school board settles questions about consolidation of schools in the district.

Today, the board is scheduled to take a preliminary vote on closing East Heights and Centennial schools. The board already agreed to shut down Riverside School. All three could be closed in May.

Minder said he would sacrifice the alternative high school to save East Heights.

“The data on the alternative high school is that we’re spending way more per student at the alternative high school than at East Heights,” Minder said.

The current school board pegged annual operational savings from closing East Heights at $482,000. No similar cost-savings summary has been prepared on the alternative high school, but the annual budget is about $630,000.

Board members are searching for up to $4 million in cuts to balance the 2003-2004 budget.

Students at the alternative high school — about 120 annually — are officially enrolled at Lawrence High School or Free State High School. There is a waiting list to get into the alternative program, which features self-paced classes and more one-on-one instruction.

Minder’s idea of closing the alternative facility in Holcom Park doesn’t have support of the current board.

“That just won’t happen,” said board member Linda Robinson. “For us to close down the last-chance facility we have for graduating students from this community would be the stupidest thing we could do. We’re not going to throw those kids out on the street.

“If Rich Minder wants to come along and say those kids aren’t worth it, that’s his vote.”

Mary Loveland, who has been on the board for 16 years, said graduation rates at LHS and Free State would tumble if the alternative program was dismantled.

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Minder apparently doesn’t have a full grasp of the alternative school’s mission, said Loveland, who lost her re-election bid.

“It’s either a demonstration of lack of information or a source of information that isn’t realistic about the effectiveness of other options,” she said.

Austin Turney, who becomes board president at the same time Minder takes office, said the learning curve for new board members was steep.

“They’ve got to get out to all these locations to understand what we’re doing and what is going on,” Turney said.

He said new federal mandates contained in No Child Left Behind statutes required that the district not “write off kids who don’t fit the mold” at LHS and Free State.

Minder said he recognized students struggling to complete high school need supplemental programs.

“Is the alternative high school the most effective and efficient use of resources to accomplish that goal?” he said. “It is not at all clear that it is.”

The $59 million school bond issue defeated by voters April 1 would have earmarked $6.8 million for expansion of the alternative high school facilities.