City Councilor Bev Fitzpatrick said there is plenty of space around the downtown Jefferson Center, but elsewhere in the city the 30 or so acres needed to build a new high school are in short supply.

“There’s plenty of parking and plenty of vacant land,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s very likely that ultimately you could do what we’re talking about and, once you acquire the land, create additional space for a regular high school that’s part of Jefferson Center.”

Councilwoman Vivian Sanchez-Jones said her least favorite idea was expanding existing high schools, which would increase the capacity of those schools to over 2,000 students.

“You won’t be on a first-name basis with all the students. You’ll just be a number,” Sanchez-Jones said. “And besides, we can’t wait three, five or 10 years for a new school or an addition. We need to do something now.”

Councilwoman Stephanie Moon Reynolds wondered where the new additions would fit on the existing high school campuses. Students attending a downtown magnet school could help boost local restaurants and other businesses, she said.

“I like the idea of ​​the magnet school,” Moon Reynolds said. “What I like about it is that students have an opportunity that they don’t normally have when they come downtown.”

School Board Vice Chair Franny Apel said the magnet school idea optimizes the schools’ and city’s available resources in terms of time, money and space.

White, the school’s principal, said the Jefferson Center opened 100 years ago, in September 1924. During the segregation era, it was a white-only school.

“To then have the opportunity to make this a wonderfully diverse school that includes students from both high schools could actually be something that would be historic in and of itself,” White said. “We can honor the history and vision of the building, both with the historic school and the performing arts venue, while also forging a new path for the next 100 years.”

The City Council approved the idea of ​​bringing public school students back to Jefferson Center. Mayor Sherman Lea, who is retiring at the end of the year, said he would cheer from the outside as the plans move forward.

“There will be some obstacles along the way, you have to be aware of that,” said Lea. “You have to be willing to stay the course.”

Lea said he worked with four different school superintendents between his time on the school board and the city council.

“The challenge ahead is big, but I think you all have the right attitude and approach to meet it,” Lea said.