LEBANON - Students will have another opportunity for alternative education through the Lebanon Community School District, the Lebanon School Board has decided.

Board members voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a contract for an alternative education program with the Insight School of Oregon, a statewide, online, private alternative high school.

The contract does not obligate the district financially until and unless it is used. The district can be charged a per-class fee, which varies depending on the class, or up to 80 percent of the money received from the state per student for a four-class load, approximately $4,500.

Superintendent Jim Robinson said the program would be used on a case by case basis. He said it would be especially valuable for students who are expelled, as the district must offer a choice of at least two alternative programs. Currently, only tutoring or classes through the Community Services Consortium are available as options.

Jan Zarate, director of student achievement, said students would work with certified teachers through the online school who meet the federal definition of "highly qualified."

In other business Tuesday, the board:

- Voted unanimously to pay abatement fees of up to $17,500 out of the 2009-10 budget to Brian O'Driscoll of Lebanon. The money is to help him move the former Reed School building to family property on Berlin Road for renovation.

O'Driscoll also asked for district staff help in prepping the building for moving, a labor contribution not to exceed 200 manhours, but board members said no. The proposal to help pay abatement fees now goes to O'Driscoll for further discussion, said Larry Tilford, the district's director of facilities.

- Heard a presentation by James Sundell of the Oregon Education Association and Lonnie Harris, president of the Lebanon Association of Classified Employees, who both called for support for Lebanon classified employees as they and district representatives enter state-mediated negotiation sessions this week.

Sundell said the union is 3.77 percent behind the cost of living for the past five years. He noted the contract for Lebanon teachers gives them up to a 5.5 percent cost of living wage increase per year, but that so far the district has offered classified employees a 2.75 increase for the current year and up to 3.5 percent through 2011.

Also, Sundell said, the statewide district average for classified employees' monthly insurance contributions last year was $877 per month, while Lebanon's contribution was $730 per month.

"We need your help to catch up and keep up," he said.