Changes in assignment patterns and in program structure are in store for Worthington's four middle schools.

Probably beginning next school year, all traditional students attending Perry Middle School will go to McCord Middle School, and team teaching will be replaced with a program that includes eight class periods each day at McCord, Worthingway, and Kilbourne middle schools.

Details of the changes have not been finalized, and parents are invited to hear about the plans and to give their input during a meeting set for 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Kilbourne Middle School.

The changes are expected to result in a savings to the district, Superintendent Melissa Conrath said. Budget reductions became necessary when voters approved a 6.9-mill incremental operating levy in November.

When the school board decreased the size of the levy after a 7.4-mill levy failed last spring, it acknowledged that reductions would be necessary.

"We are trying to identify ways to increase efficiencies without hurting the quality of the program," Conrath said.

The cost of operating the middle school program is higher per pupil than the high schools or the elementary schools, district spokesperson Vicki Gnezda said. The middle schools' costs also are higher than those in other central Ohio districts, she said.

Currently, the district operates the four middle schools. The alternative Phoenix program and about 150 students in a traditional program share the Perry building.

Those students are to be moved to McCord, which could house all of the students, Gnezda said. The redistribution of students is expected to last about five years, when the currently sagging middle school enrollment is expected to rebound.

Meanwhile, officials plan to expand the Phoenix program.

Moving the Perry students to McCord is expected to save money because of the reduced repetition of services.

"We will use the three buildings we have now to accommodate our students," Conrath said. "We are not planning to close a building."

What will be closed is the team-teaching approach that has been used for more than two decades. Students are assigned to a team of teachers who work together and stay with the same students much of the school day.

The new program will resemble the old junior-high program, though administrators seem to shy away from using that terminology.

"We are looking at a blended model," Gnezda said. "We are looking at restructuring the school day."