PROVIDENCE — An education consultant has recommended sweeping changes to the city’s 42 public schools that would cost at least $792 million and calls for building seven new schools during the first phase of construction.

DeJONG, the education planners hired by the city in March, released a master plan today that outlines which schools should be closed, which should be renovated and which should be built from scratch. The 10-month study not only looked at the conditions of the city’s public schools but at the need to create dynamic new environments for teaching and learning.

“This is a plan of hope, of direction, a facility master plan which can lead to a new generation of schools in the city of Providence,” DeJONG wrote in its 80-page report, released today.

The plan calls for building 19 new schools, mostly elementary; closing five schools, including Perry Middle School and converting Del Sesto High School into a middle school.

Hope High School would be renovated, not closed. One of the original options proposed closing the building, which is in poor condition, and building two smaller high schools, possibly on the same campus.

During the first phase of contruction, DeJONG proposes:

-- Replacing Nathan Bishop Middle School with a new 6-8 school

-- Building a new alternative high school for 200 students. Renovating an existing commercial or retail space is also possible.

-- Replacing Mount Pleasant High School with two smaller high schools. One would be a career technical school focused on the construction trades. The total enrollment at both schools would equal 1,200 students.

-- Building the following new elementary schools: George West, Alan Shawn Feinstein, Asa Messer and Laurel Hill Annex

In its report, DeJONG concluded that many of the existing school buildings, while structurally sound, are larger than what is needed and would be expensive to convert into contemporary schools.

“The balance between renovation of older structures and construction of new buildings will need to be determined,” the consultants wrote. “The final solution is likely to be a combination of new and renovated schools.”

The school facilities plan is premised on the idea that schools should be smaller. DeJONG recommends no more than 600 students at the elementary level, 750 at the middle level and 900 at the high school level.

After listening to parents and other community leaders, the consultants have embraced the concept that elementary and middle school students should be able to walk to school.

They also acknowledged that a project of this magnitude faces numerous challenges, including the lack of land available for new construction. One possible solution, DeJONG said, is to locate new schools on park sites and then convert the school property into parks. This would allow new construction to begin without disrupting the lives of students at existing schools.

In making its recommendations, the consultants took into account the age of the existing buildings, their condition and the projected enrollments. Almost half of the city’s schools were built prior to 1930 and 78 percent are in poor condition.

Many schools are no longer located in neighborhoods where public school students actually live, so the new plans reflect those demographic changes. Elementary school enrollments are expected to increase over the next 10 years, middle school enrollments are expected to rise slightly and high school enrollments are expected to decline starting in 2008-2009.

When they began, the planners divided the city into six regions with roughly equal numbers of children in each area. Four options were developed for each of the regions and each option typically included a mix of new construction, renovations and school closings.

During the planning process, DeJONG held four meetings to solicit feedback from the community. Teachers and staff participated in a number of workshops in which they crafted what schools should look like during the 21st Century.

Educators stressed that they wanted a variety of middle school options, including the traditional grade 6-8 configuration and K-8 schools, a model favored by Supt. Donnie Evans. As a result, middle schools were designed to accommodate the classic 6-8 model as well as a K-8 design.

DeJONG also recommends breaking most of the city’s large comprehensive high schools into smaller learning communities, where each student is well-known and stable relationships between students and teachers can be cultivated.

One model breaks a 1,200-student high school into three smaller schools; the other calls for a small high school of no more than 750 students that would also be divided into smaller units.

The master plan proposes dividing the renovations into four phases, with 6 to 8 schools per phase until all of the schools scheduled for work are renovated or replaced.

Both Mayor David N. Cicilline and the Providence School Board will have to approve the plan. A series of public hearings will be held next month to explain these recommendations to the community and DeJONG will arrange to meet with various community groups.