New London — The school district has dropped one of the four planned magnet school pathways in the latest iteration of a programming plan being designed in advance of the start of a $150 million school construction project.

The leadership pathway, once called the public service and leadership pathway when it was first conceived in 2014, is no longer part of the operations plan expected to be presented to the state Department of Education next week.

The implications on magnet school funding for the district and on the availability of magnet school options for all New London students is unclear, since school district administrators remain tight-lipped about the ongoing plans.

The latest change is just one in a series of alterations of both the programming and physical layout of a project that has experienced several delays over the past few years. Work on the $98 million high school project is expected to start later this summer with a track rehabilitation project. The nearly $50 million worth of work at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School will be the second phase of the project.

The changes, most recently the result of state directives, have led to some confusion over exactly what is being built and where certain programs will be housed. There also appears to be a lack of communication between the city and school officials.

An example of that is the fact that the school construction project manager, Diana McNeil of the Capitol Region Education Council, as of this week was unaware that the state had shifted the course of the project. It was McNeil who was thrust into the hot seat to answer questions and sustain criticisms from the City Council at a Feb. 20 council meeting.

Unbeknownst to McNeil, district administrators had met in Hartford that very day to discuss alterations to the project. As a result, some of the information she provided to the council was outdated.

A statement recently released to The Day from the state Department of Education, responding to questions about the status of the project, indicates the current plan is to have “one overarching 6-12 magnet school with options for students to select a focus in STEM, Arts and Global Studies.”

The statement goes on to say that it makes sense to consolidate schools “into one 6-12 International Baccalaureate program requiring less staff, facilities maintenance, etc.”

The state Department of Education's statement about the IB program has led to some confusion within the school district, which is in the candidacy phase of an IB World School program at C.B. Jennings Dual Language and International Elementary School. IB programs include a rigorous course curriculum similar to advanced placement courses.

Interim Superintendent Stephen Tracy and Kate McCoy, the district's executive director for strategic planning, government and media relations, did not return calls or emails seeking comment for an explanation. Both attended the Feb. 20 meeting in Hartford.

Instead of answering questions, the school district on Wednesday released a joint statement signed by Mayor Michael Passero, City Council President Anthony Nolan, Board of Education President Mirna Martinez and state Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London.

It offers a somewhat different explanation of changes to the magnet school plans and notably neglects any mention of the International Baccalaureate program.

The physical location of the magnet pathways, according to the statement, has changed from a grades six through 12 model to one closer to a typical middle school and high school, in contrast to what has been planned for the past several years.

“Under the state’s plan, 6-12 students would select from among three pathways: Science/Technology/Engineering & Mathematics (STEM); Arts; and International Studies. Students in grades 6-8 would continue to attend the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School campus, except that all students in the Arts pathway (6-12) would be located at the New London High School campus. These anticipated improvements to New London’s magnet school plan will ensure our continued progress and success," the statement reads.

Recognizing there has been a rift between city officials and school district administrators, Soto has been acting as something of a mediator, traveling to Hartford separately with city and school district officials for a series of ongoing meetings. He was with school administrators at the Feb. 20 meeting with state education officials in Hartford. He attended a March 2 meeting with Passero and commissioners from both the Department of Education and Department of Administrative Services.

Soto said he believes the school district administrators were hesitant to go public with information from their meeting until they have some sort of written confirmation from the state that plans will not change again. 

The most recent meeting was a good sign, Soto said, that the two different state departments are working together and showing support for the district’s conversion into the state’s first all-magnet school district. Officials the state Department of Education must approve the programming plans for the school, while the state Department of Administrative Services must sign off on the school building plan.

Konstantinos Diamantis, director of DAS’s Office of School Construction Grants and Review, said his office cannot approve a school design without clear direction and blueprint of the academic programming approved by the state Department of Education.

“The reason is we do not want the community spending time and money developing something that isn’t going to be approved at the end of the day,” he said.

The current delays in the school construction project, which ultimately lead to cost increases, is in part due to the loss of a $31 million project to include classrooms and theater space at the Garde Arts Center as part of the district’s arts magnet school.

Diamantis said the Garde was not prepared to cede control of the project and the academic programming to the Board of Education, part of the reason the project never materialized.

The school district subsequently spent months trying to recoup some of the funding associated with the project, only to have a $17 million offer from the state rejected by Passero on grounds the taxpayers could not afford the city’s share and the city could not afford more delays to the project. Some district officials remain bitter about the mayor’s move.

Diamantis said his department now is focused on the high school, or north campus, project and has an obligation to the state “to ensure we build only what we need.” He said his office remains engaged with both the city and Department of Education to ensure the project moves forward.

Kathy Skrabacz, a school board candidate and parent with kids in the school system, who has closely followed the progress of the magnet school plans, said the constant changes in the plans are not a good sign.

“I still have a lot of unanswered questions. I think I would be more optimistic with a permanent superintendent on board. We always seem to lose momentum with the changing of the guard,” she said.

While her children are too old to see the new high school project completed, Skrabacz said construction there may impact her youngest. She has requested that the district provide better updates on the progress of the projects on its website.

Soto said he will continue to address concerns from people in the community about New London students being displaced from the magnet programs and in general about the future of state magnet school funding.

“I’m extremely optimistic. Some things have changed but we’re still going to build a new high school. We still have a magnet plan to provide high quality education — nothing is really changing from what we initially envisioned,” Soto said. “The state approved this years ago. They’re trying to enable us to be successful.”

The idea of magnet schools for students in grades six through 12 dates to at least 2015 but did not appear to be part of the public discussion back in 2014, when voters at referendum approved a $165 million bond ordinance for the project.

At the time, the project was designed to address overdue facilities problems at the high and middle schools. The high school was on probation at the time with the agency that accredits New England secondary schools. There were threats of accreditation being revoked.

Passero this week expressed frustration over ongoing struggles to recoup state funds from past school projects and said the city does not want to be in a position of paying more than what voters approved.

He expressed optimism, however, in a meeting held last Friday in Hartford that the latest changes are final.

“The city administration, in partnership with our project manager, CREC ... stands committed to fulfilling the dream of having our high school and middle school rebuilt,” Passero said. “We’re simply waiting for the Board of Education and state Department of Education to decide on the educational requirements they want in the schools. We are optimistic they are going to finally work that out and begin designing the first of the two new schools.”

g.smith@theday.com