When a student at Granite High skips class, he'll likely get a personal phone call that day from Principal Carol Harris. It's the kind of school where sluffing doesn't go unnoticed, where the custodian knows you by name, and the guidance counselor will collect money to cover your college application fee or drive you to a job interview.

Small, intense and focused on academics without the distractions of sports and pep rallies, Granite High is a living example of the "small schools" movement, the biggest reform to hit high schools of late.

It may be Utah's only example, and its last.

Though popular elsewhere, small high schools have been deemed too pricey -- even wasteful -- for a state where children outnumber wage-earning taxpayers and education is done on a shoestring. Those concerns, coupled with budget cuts, have education officials thinking about closing Granite High.

The South Salt Lake high school has long been in the crosshairs. Enrollment has steadily declined for a decade, and even Harris admits that on a per-pupil basis, Granite High costs more to operate than its much larger counterparts.

But to Harris, her 12 teachers and 300 students, the dividends are clear. Granite caters to a population of underserved, at-risk kids who gave up on traditional high school because traditional high schools gave up on them, they argue.

The school's rising test scores and graduation rate, hovering at 80 percent, prove small schools work to bridge the achievement gap evident at other schools between low-income minorities and middle-class whites, said Harris.

"Instead of closing Granite," she said, "the district should clone it."

It's a sentiment echoed by other supporters who are expected to voice their opinion at a public hearing Tuesday at the Granite School District's offices. Students have planned an after-school march.

Community support has spared Granite High before. But tough economic times and new research questioning the merit of the small schools model have raised the stakes this year.

High schools with low achievement and high dropout rates have been subject to countless reforms. The small schools movement took hold at the turn of the century, fueled by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which pumped billions into offering education on a "more human scale."

Granite High was among those to benefit. But the Gates Foundation quietly abandoned the small schools model after two major studies showed no gains in student achievement.

"The size of a school matters less than providing a good curriculum, having good standards and a discipline policy, and caring about kids," said Diane Ravitch, an education historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "There's a point where schools get too large, beyond 1,500 students. But there's also a point where they're too small and wasteful."

The best small schools, however, are safer with less bullying and violence, studies show. They are supportive learning communities uniquely adept at helping low-income children stay motivated and succeed.

For some students, Granite High, a lone educational presence in South Salt Lake City, is the only safety net they have.

"It's an anchor in a community that really needs anchors," said John Draper, a Spanish teacher at the school.

About 75 percent of Granite High's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, one measure of poverty. More than half are ethnic minorities and more than a third are non-native English speakers. Many come from unsettled, sometimes chaotic, single-parent households.

"A high percentage work to support their families. These are students who parents their siblings or who parent their parents," said Stan Maeser, a Granite High alumni who has taught art and computer technology there for 10 years.

The students who attend Granite do so by choice.

In 2005, when Granite High was being considered for closure, the community rallied and struck a deal to save the school. The school jettisoned athletics and other activities such as marching band. The school now offers fewer courses, though students are able to take those courses electronically or in cooperation with other schools.

And Granite has no boundaries, which means students aren't assigned there. They come for its welcoming atmosphere, or because it's close to home. If Granite were to close, students would return to their neighborhood schools or be bused to Cottonwood High, six miles away.

"The teachers here are like family, and there are fewer cliques," said Megan Vance, who lives in Taylorsville and came to Granite High on the advice of her sister. "With big schools the counselor has another 1,000 kids to worry about. It's almost like they don't care. Here you walk down the hall and they know you by name."

Student endorsements notwithstanding, Granite High also boasts academic success.

Teacher turnover is virtually nonexistent. Class sizes are nearly half that of larger Utah high schools.

Last year, 83 percent of the school's seniors graduated and 52 percent were accepted to colleges, most on scholarships, school records show.

That compares to a national graduation rate of 70 percent and a 50 percent rate for low-income minorities.

"In my heart of hearts, do I believe our kids would be served just as well in another big high school? Not a chance," said Granite High guidance counselor Julie Wallace.

District officials report different figures. By their measure, 74 percent of Granite High's seniors graduated last year. And only 63 percent of this year's students have passing grades.

The disparity stems from how the district defines "senior" and when the snapshot was taken, explained Linda Mariotti, Granite School District curriculum director.

Mariotti has "a soft spot" in her heart for Granite High, having worked there 11 years ago as an assistant principal.

But she said even back then, the school struggled with declining enrollment as students and parents exercised their "school choice" right and enrolled elsewhere.

Though a proponent of the community learning model, Mariotti believes it can be deployed within a large school. You might, for example, pull students out for a period of specialized tutoring or mentoring, or group students based on career goals, tailoring the curriculum to support those interests, said Mariotti. "There's a misperception that small learning community means a small group of students being educated the same way we've always done it."

Others, though, see Granite High as a politically easy target. Several of the district's east-side schools, including Skyline and Olympus, also report dropping enrollment, but there's no talk of busing students west to Granite, they argue.

"These kids are the poorest of the poor," said Bill Anderson, chairman of the school's community council and a former South Salt Lake councilman. "We spend extra for special education, sports and gifted kids. Why shouldn't we spend more for these at-risk kids? Helping them become productive adults will pay out greater in reduced social costs in the long run."

kstewart@sltrib.com