Staff Writer

ONEONTA — Oneonta school officials voted Wednesday to adopt the proposed $24,501,205 budget for 2003-04.

The spending plan, which carries with it a 5.82 percentage point increase in the tax levy, will be presented to voters on May 20.

Two weeks ago, school officials made another $47,500 in cuts to further reduce a tax hike that was estimated two months ago at 9.89 percent.

The latest cuts represent adjustments in BOCES services and reductions in the employment retirement system contribution.

In other news:

• A proposed alternative education program is likely to be up and running at Oneonta High School in time for the new school year, school officials said Wednesday.

Members of the Alternative Education Committee, formed to study the merits of establishing an alternative high school, presented program details to the board of education.

Discussions about the alternative school began a year ago when it was proposed by Oneonta High School Principal Scott Rabeler.

The program, which would start in October and be available to all grades, is aimed at students who cannot seem to thrive in the traditional school setting that involves a strict classroom structure.

Students who join the program would attend classes at OHS for three hours a day, four days a week, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Each three hour period would be spent on one subject.

Teachers would be drawn from existing OHS staff.

The goal, said OHS guidance counselor Nichola Wilson, is to give students who are in danger of dropping out of school an opportunity to earn credits and meet graduation goals in a non-traditional way.

OHS teacher David Forbes said the earlier a student is targeted for the program, the easier it will be for him or her to transition back into the high school mainstream, which is the ultimate goal of the alternative school.

"I see it as an opportunity to save a number of freshmen before having to think about worrying about them dropping out and going into a GED program," Forbes said.

It is possible that as many as 10 students will be involved in the program, said OHS guidance counselor Nichola Wilson.

Wilson said some students have already expressed interest in the program.

Board member Penny Wightman said she is concerned about teacher fatigue and a lack of planned transportation for alternative school students.

Wightman also asked how students who have problems focusing during a regular high school period will be able to handle three hours in one class.

School psychologist Gary Koutnik argued that OHS teachers who take on the job will not be burned out after a regular teaching day, adding "They'll have a different way of doing the thing we already love to do."

District Superintendent James Piscitelli said the program will probably start this fall.

"There's money budgeted and it looks like we're headed in that direction," Piscitelli said.

Between $30,000 and $40,000 has been budgeted for the first year of the program, District Business Administrator Thomas Austin said.

This is at least the second time in about 10 years the district has looked into starting its own alternative-education program. In the early 1990s, the district stopped sending students to the BOCES alternative education program and had its own for a year.

But after a few years with no program, the district began sending students to BOCES again.

• Several Center Street Elementary School students were honored for their participation in the Odyssey of the Mind competition, the Daughter's of the American Revolution essay contest and The Daily Star Advertising Contest.

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Jill Fahy can be reached at jfahy@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7221.