MSD Warren Township board approves start of plan to reintegrate Renaissance program into high school and middle school

The MSD Warren Township school board voted on May 13 to begin transitioning the Renaissance alternative program from its standalone site into a "school‑within‑a‑school" model at Warren Central High School and Crestston Intermediate and Middle School, while directing district administrators to return with a full implementation plan addressing staffing, counseling and schedules.

Dr. Sullivan, who led the Renaissance Task Force, told trustees the recommendation is grounded in five priorities: increase student access to supports and opportunities, strengthen transitions back to traditional settings, expand access to behavioral and therapeutic services, give teachers better resourcing, and build a more sustainable model for the district. "The recommendation is rooted in a belief that our students deserve access to the full breadth of educational opportunities, services and connections that a comprehensive school environment can provide while still preserving specialized supports," Dr. Sullivan said early in the presentation.

Trustees pressed administrators on operational details throughout the meeting. Several board members and a retired counselor urged that the district preserve the current Renaissance staff-student relationships and add dedicated counseling and social‑work capacity. "We need a dedicated counselor that is looking after those students and handling their schedule," a trustee said, noting the Renaissance counselor had been overworked under the existing model. Administrators responded that staffing levels are under review, that teachers who currently work in Renaissance would transfer into comparable roles, and that the task force has discussed tiered supports including day‑report and online options intended to avoid exclusionary discipline.

Scheduling and attendance drew sustained scrutiny. The task force described a cohort model ("black/gold" for high school, "green/white" for middle school) in which students would spend full days in the host schools when attending and may have an integrated online/support day midweek. Some trustees and teachers warned that alternate-day attendance could leave students unsupervised at home and reduce daily contact with staff, arguing that daily in‑person time is important for re‑engagement. Administrators said details such as exact school hours, IEP accommodations and how CTE access would be scheduled remain to be finalized by the task force.

Teachers and staff who spoke during public comment expressed cautious support for the reintegration’s potential — single‑site access to CTE, clubs and more robust mental‑health partners — but pressed for greater involvement in planning and more time to finalize logistics. "We are not against this move. We are excited about the opportunities this is going to bring for our students," said Kristen Shaw, a special education teacher at Renaissance. She also asked the board to slow the pace of change after teachers and students received limited advance details with only weeks left in the school year.

School and district leaders said the vote sought here was only to begin the relocation so the district could meet implementation timelines; they committed to return to the board with a full plan and regular monitoring reports. At the meeting’s end, board member Lashana Triplet moved to begin the transition process with the understanding that administrators would present clear guidance and implementation details later; Rachel seconded the motion. The board approved the motion by oral vote.

Next steps the board requested include finalizing dedicated counseling/social‑work staffing for each host site, defining intake and referral criteria to avoid becoming a "dumping ground," clarifying cohort schedules while preserving IEP‑required services, preserving or carefully phasing access to Walker Career Center programs, and producing a timeline and monitoring reports for trustees. Administration said they will take the board’s feedback and bring a detailed implementation plan back for further board approval.

The board closed the meeting by thanking Renaissance teachers and staff and reiterating a commitment to collaborative planning and transparency during the transition.