A petition drive started by former and current Lawrence Alternative High School students has fallen far short of the initial goal of 5,000 signatures. But the group hopes USD 497 Supt. Randy Weseman will still heed its warning about overhauling the district’s alternative education program.

Samantha Alt, an LAHS graduate who helped spearhead the petition drive, reported that the group had gathered between 600 and 700 signatures as of Saturday. Alt said she hoped to reach 1,000 signatures by Monday’s school board meeting, where she and other group members will present the petition.

“Hopefully we can come to an agreement, or some kind of compromise,” Alt said. “I hope we can keep the alternative high school open.”

Weseman announced early this month that he planned to close the LAHS facility at the end of the school year and distribute its resources between Lawrence and Free State high schools. Students who would formerly have been sent to LAHS will be served through a variety of alternative education and learning extension programs within the other high schools.

A small group gathered Friday evening at Alt’s apartment to organize before heading out to collect more signatures downtown and along 23rd Street. Heather Coffey, a senior at LAHS, went downtown with her mother, Kathy Coffey. Heather decided to go to LAHS after falling behind in the curriculum at Free State.

“Heather had gotten to the point where she wanted to quit school, and I said, ‘That’s not an option,'” Kathy Coffey said. “Going out to LAHS, she got the individual help she needed.”

Both Heather and Kathy said it was important to them to see LAHS continue to operate, even though Heather will graduate before the changes are to take place. The Coffeys want to know that a separate facility will be available to students who want to get out of the standard high school environment.

But Weseman has contended that the change is necessary in the face of a statewide education budget crunch. Though the new plan would not save the district any money, Weseman said, by dissolving the LAHS as a separate entity the district should be able to serve more students with its resources.

“I believe the LAHS staff will be able to better contribute to the overall success of more students if we revise our system of learning extensions and alternatives,” Weseman said.

From left, Jack Davidson, Heather Coffey, Kathy Coffey and Pat Hays discuss the proposed closing of Lawrence Alternative High School. Heather Coffey, a senior at LAHS, organized the rally of those opposed to the closing on Friday at her Lawrence residence. After the gathering, Coffey and a group of students gathered signatures to save the school. Davidson is a former member of the Lawrence school board.

Heather said she understood that the petition might not save LAHS, but she hoped it would leave an impression with Weseman and the school board.

“As long as we can open his eyes to what he is doing by putting the students who are over there back into the environment they were trying to get out of,” Heather said. “They can set up new programs, but if the students are back in the other buildings, it’s not going to be the same.”