Schools

Mentor School Board Approves Plan to Turn Headlands Into Autism Education Center

Renovations could begin as early as next week

Mentor Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to renovate the into a school for children with autism.

They approved the business plan for the new during a meeting Tuesday.

Superintendent Jacqueline Hoynes presented the idea to the Board .

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"With the school closing, we feel we have the opportunity to renovate the building to make it a state-of-the-art facility for students with autism," Hoynes said while proposing the project.

According to the approved business plan, CARES will open October 2011 with enrollment of up to 12 students. Enrollment would then increase each year until there were 42 students by 2014.

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The renovated Headlands would  includes classrooms for preschool, kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade, middle and high school students, along with a parent resource room and a place for staff development, according to a statement on the Mentor Schools website.

The school will also be refitted with new technology to to help the experience and education of students with special needs.

Renovations will cost about $738,000, Hoynes said. Also, the district would need to hire one teacher and two teacher's aides for every six students that attend CARES.

However, Hoynes said the capital investment needed to renovate the school would already be paid back by the beginning of the 2013 school year and, by 2014, CARES would cost $1.48 million to operate and make $2.31 million in revenue.

The board awarded the renovation contract to Whitehouse Construction and renovations could begin as early as next week.


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