As part of the restructuring, the handful of private companies that run the schools will have their contracts terminated and replaced by one-year agreements covering the next school year.

Those agreements will have different fees and program requirements, said Cassandra Jones, the school district's interim chief academic officer.

Next month, those companies and other interested parties will be able to apply to operate the soon-to-be-revamped alternative schools, starting in July 2009, Jones said.

"When you looked at alternative education, you had four major providers. They look very different," Jones said. "We want to standardize how we collect the information, how we provide the services, how we give clear direction for the standards and expectations for the services that we want for all of our children."

Currently, four companies manage schools for disruptive students. Community Education Partners is paid $29.8 million to run three schools with 2,737 students. Camelot Schools is paid $7.2 million to run two schools with 696 students. Delaware Valley High School, is paid $840,000 to run 1 school with 108 students. Cornell Abraxas is paid $2.4 million to operate classrooms in 10 schools with 113 students.

In addition, programs for overaged students are run by four operators. Camelot is paid $2.4 million to teach 296 students. CEP is paid $3.3 million to teach 425 students at three sites. Opportunities Industrialization Centers is paid $1.2 million to educate 163 students. IECI/Fairhill Community High School is paid $2 million to teach 258 students.

The school district will spend about $64.8 million on all alternative programs this school year - $50.8 million from the district's budget and $14 million from the state's. That's a reduction from the $71.3 million spent last year - $22 million from the state and $49.3 million from the district. *