Central High to stay as is?

SOUTH SALT LAKE — Granite School District's chief will recommend Central High School remain open next school year.

"I think our recommendation will be to keep (Central) open. But the board may say no," Superintendent Steve Ronnenkamp told the Deseret Morning News following an emotional Wednesday community meeting about Granite High's new mission. "There are too many unknowns."

Granite Board of Education President Patricia Sandstrom believes the board will OK Ronnenkamp's proposal at Tuesday's board meeting.

"I don't see the board voting against it," she said. "It's not a change of heart; it had just not yet been defined."

Sandstrom last week told the Deseret Morning News that the district's proposal to move Central's alternative programs to Granite basically would mean closing Central.

"I don't know what's going to happen to Central High as it becomes part of Granite," she said at the time. "That's one of the unknowns. . . . I don't know what (we're) going to do with the building."

But at an informational meeting with the Granite High community Wednesday, Ronnenkamp, in answering a question from the audience, said Central's future is undetermined.

"Because a program is assigned to the supervision or oversight (of Granite High) . . . to conclude Central High is going to be closed is simply not true. Maybe the Central High students are going to go there."

He noted the new Granite would be an "umbrella" to include alternative programs elsewhere in the district, which he said might run as satellites to Granite High. The umbrella could save money by consolidating overhead, such as having one principal instead of several and sharing counselors.

The issue is rooted in board action to close Meadow Moor and Canyon Rim elementaries and reconfigure Granite High as a a non-traditional school, a move estimated to save $1.4 million.

Granite High's boundaries were redrawn under the vote, dispersing students to neighboring schools.

But Ronnenkamp hopes Granite students stay for new performing arts and career academies, which focus electives on specific disciplines. Students would still learn the core curriculum and could take college preparatory course work. Traditional athletic teams, however, will would not be offered.