The six Worthington students attending the Metro School may stay, at least for the time being.

Worthington Superintendent Melissa Conrath and Franklin County Educational Council director Brad Mitchell have devised a plan to allow the district to send the students to the Franklin County public alternative high school in exchange for "in-kind" contributions.

Neither Worthington nor the parents, who currently pay about $6,200 a year tuition for each student, would be required to pay for the rest of the year, but the district and the Metro School must come up with a new arrangement for coming years.

And the Worthington Board of Education, which appeared on the verge of pulling the students from the program last week, must approve.

The board will probably address the situation at its meeting Monday, Sept. 24.

"I believe what we've arranged is consistent with board policy," Conrath said.

The problem arose nearly two weeks ago, when Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann ruled that parents may not be charged tuition for their children's public education.

In Worthington, the school board permits students to attend the Metro School only if their parents pay the tuition. Most other districts in central Ohio pay to send their students to Metro, which is a public math, science, and technology high school that just began its second year.

Students come from several of the 16 Franklin County districts. Ohio State University and Battelle cover some of the costs of the school, which is located near the Ohio State campus..

Worthington sent four students last year, and added two this year.

Worthington board members made it clear at the Sept. 10 meeting that they do not intend to pay tuition. Several board members said the Metro School offers no more academic advantages than are offered by the district's two high schools.

Board member David Bressman said the students were being caught in a game of political football. Gov. Ted Strickland is trying "to sweep under the rug" any support of charter schools and Dann's ruling reflects that position, Bressman said.

The tentative agreement to permit Worthington's students to continue attending the school is two-fold. It promises payment in the form of staff development and other methods this year, and promises that the board will address how the schools can cooperate in coming years.

Details are still to be worked out, but possible "in-kind" payments might include allowing Metro staff to participate in teacher training for such new programs as Project Lead the Way and an assessment program being started in Worthington. Allowing more teachers to take part would not cost the district extra money, Conrath said.

Metro students might also be able to use a piece of interventional software to assist students challenged with passing state tests, she said. Worthington has already purchased that software.

Richard Bradley, who writes grant applications for Worthington, might be asked to write applications that could benefit both Metro and Worthington, she suggested.

Less clear is how the relationship between the two would be worked out beyond this school year.

Part of the agreement requires the Worthington board to consider an ongoing "mutually beneficial relationship," Conrath said.

Metro parents with whom she has spoken have expressed support of the plan, though they want to know as soon as possible how long their children will be permitted to attend the Metro School.

<center>cbrooks@thisweeknews.com