A team of business leaders and residents is scouring job-needs data to see what programs should be housed at the new Woodward High School vocational campus, scheduled to open for the 2003-04 school year.

        Cincinnati Public Schools officials assembled a committee to plan the new career-tech programs for the vocational campus. The group met for the first time last week.

        “The idea is to make sure programs are developed in areas where current and future job opportunities are plentiful,” said Kent Friel, chairman of Leadership Cincinnati's alumni education committee and co-chairman of the group helping to plan the new Woodward campus.

        Sheila Adams, president of the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, will be co-chairwoman.

        The Woodward programming must be outlined by November so district officials can complete the campus' architectural design by June 2002. Renovation is scheduled to begin that summer.

        Woodward's planning committee will review job data by the U.S. Department of Labor and the AFL-CIO, among other organizations, Mr. Friel said. Members will also consult with other Cincinnati-area vocational institutions to avoid duplication of specialties, he said.

        It's not unusual to find business advisory groups offering input to school districts — especially among successful school systems, said Sherry Marshall, work force solutions director in the department of economic development at the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. The chamber of commerce is also part of the Woodward planning committee.

        The Woodward-area community also will be surveyed to determine its wants, Mr. Friel said.

        Started in 1831, Woodward is the oldest high school west of the Allegheny Mountains. The school is one of five CPS neighborhood high schools being re- designed over the next two years. The school's administration is trying to curb a districtwide dropout rate of 49 percent.

        Of the Woodward students required to take the 12th-grade proficiency tests in the 1999-2000 school year, just 3.9 percent passed all five portions.

        District officials said they hope to improve test scores, as well as the attendance and graduation rates, with courses that will be relevant to students' post-secondary education and to their future careers.

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