The Pontiac school board has announced preliminary plans to reconfigure the district starting in the fall.

In February, interim Superintendent Kimberly Leverette sent a letter to district staff that outlined changes and at the April 7 school board meeting she detailed specifics.

A proposal to shift all International Technology Academy students grades 7-12 into Pontiac Middle School and High School was changed.

“ITA will remain the ITA program,” Leverette said at the meeting.

According to the district, ITA is “a specialized school program within the district that emphasizes STEM education and diverse learning experiences, and preparing students to become global citizens.”

ITA enrollment is just under 300 in grades 9-12.

“The ITA will remain housed at (Whitmer Human Resource Center),” Heidi Hedquist, public relations manager, said in a statement.

Leverette also announced a new direction for two other programs.

“(International Language Academy) will roll into the ITA program so that every child at ITA will have an opportunity for rigorous program offerings,” she said.

ILA is a dual-language K-5 elementary program within the Pontiac school district.

“Based on the success of the program, and the continued growth of English Learners coming to our community, we are excited to be able to offer up ILA’s bilingual principles to a larger number of students throughout the district,” said Hedquist.

The PEACE Academy, which offers pre-school and before/after school care programs, will relocate to the Whitmer Human Resource Center from Frost Elementary.

“By having its own area within (Whitmer), which also houses many of our key administrative areas such as special services, student services, bilingual, and enrollment, it gives families easy access to key resources and functions of our district without ever having to leave the building from their first introduction to the district,” Hedquist said.

Other proposals in the February letter, such as closing Odell Nails Building and the Fell Center and changing Alcott Elementary enrollment from grades kindergarten to 55 to 6-8, were not addressed at the meeting.

“There may be some questions as to what those additional phases look like; we don’t have it figured out,” said Leverette. “I’ll be coming around to all the schools, talking to community members, talking to parents, talking to students about what that looks like.”

The school board will vote on the changes at a future meeting.