Despite efforts by community members and the Ithaca City School District to suspend funding for the newly-approved New Roots Charter School, the board of trustees has made its decision and the school’s plans will continue.

The school, which will open in fall 2009, will provide an alternative to the Ithaca City School District and will emphasize sustainability. A charter school is a public school which is only accountable to the state, not the school district in which it is located. The application process for New Roots started in September 2008, but has met controversy because public schools have to allocate some of their funding to charter schools.

Granger Macy, associate professor of management at the college and treasurer on the board of trustees for the New Roots School, said many people feel threatened that ICSD and taxpayers will lose money. This is especially heightened because of the current recession.

In a letter they co-authored, local senators George Winner and James Seward have recently asked the Charter agency to delay the opening of the school.

“Now is no time to put the Ithaca City School District at financial risk,” Winner said in the letter. “It’s unfair to students and their families, the teachers and administrators, and the taxpayers. The Ithaca community has raised legitimate concerns about the New Roots Charter School, and I fully agree that we can’t move forward in the absence of full community support and until all of these questions have been fully explored.”

Kathryn Caldwell, assistant professor of psychology and secretary of the board, said charter school law dictates that central school districts share funding with the charter school, leaving many in Ithaca worried about the state of the economy. She said the New Roots School will only receive 60 to 70 percent of the money the district receives per student.

“Even though a district’s expenses drop because they are serving fewer students, it’s still hard to have to reallocate funds to a school outside of the district,” she said.

More than 980 community members signed a charter in favor of the Charter School Institute suspending funding for the New Roots School. Gregory Ezra, one of the undersigned, said the school would take away funding from the school district.

“New Roots represents a completely unacceptable diversion of precious resources from the basic educational mission of ICSD,” he said. “Both the New Roots concept and the process for granting the charter are severely flawed.”

Additionally, Corinne Frantz, Ph.D., the first person to sign the petition, said she is upset by the elimination of bureaucratic checks and balances.

“There are no elected officials providing oversight on behalf of the community or taxpayers,” she said. “Charter schools, however, are paid for by the state and local taxpayer dollars. This is a form of taxation without representation.”

Cindy Protter, director of public affairs of SUNY charter schools institute, said Ithaca citizens were trying to reverse the judgment made in September when the school was approved.

“Community members are hoping ... that when the SUNY board of trustees met yesterday, they would take some sort of action to resend the prior position and that did not happen,” she said.

Members of the ICSD Board of Education voted Monday on a resolution asking the SUNY board to deny approval for New Roots. The resolution was approved by a tally of seven to one.

Scott Perez, a board member, said he voted against the resolution based on the language.

“I was fine with asking the SUNY [board] to delay by a couple of years,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable with just flat asking them to deny it.”

Because the charter had already been approved by the board of trustees, the resolution by ICSD and petitions by community members did not affect the SUNY board’s decision. Therefore, the charter school will open as planned.

When it opens in the fall, the school will be located in downtown Ithaca. The school is prepared to educate 125 prospective ninth- and 10th-grade students.

Caldwell said the school is still required to participate in state-mandated tests and standards.

“The idea behind charter schools is to provide alternative educational choices for students,” she said.

The Center for Education Reform said that there are approximately 4,100 charter schools in the United States and 94 schools in New York. Across the state there are about 26,000 students attending alternative schools.   

Macy said the school has been allocated $450,000 in federal funding after an extensive application process — the money will be spent by July getting the school started.

The school proposes to integrate core classes into specialized hands-on courses. Only meeting for three days during the week for classes, the other two are spent giving back to the community through what was learned during class.

Jason Hamilton, associate professor of biology and environmental studies at the college and chair of the board, said the school is blending classes together in order to give students a practical understanding of what is being taught.

“The weekly schedule will allow students to integrate what they are learning in the core areas through relevant, community-based projects that cross the disciplines,” Hamilton said.

More specifically, one course that will be offered at the New Roots School is Earth Systems Science, which integrates earth science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and technology. Foreign language, physical education and health, and music and art will also be taught at the school.

“We’re reorganizing the way things are taught,” Hamilton said. “Many of the classes are going to integrate typical subjects together.”

Caldwell said the school would reflect an educational mission to make a more sustainable Ithaca.

“Our view of sustainability includes social, economic and environmental consideration,” she said. “New Roots culture and curriculum will reflect our vision for a socially just society that is economically and environmentally sustainable.”

Hamilton said New Roots will hire a full staff for the fall. The school’s student population will also grow in three years when the 10th graders become seniors.

Hamilton said, in the students’ fourth year of study, they will be expected to take college courses through Tompkins County Community College. New Roots has formed a concurrent enrollment arrangement with the college. Students will receive full college credit for each class they participate in. Hamilton said this would allow students to have a head start on their college career.

If the school were to continue to be funded it would be susceptible to yearly reviews and accountable for student performance on standardized tests. Caldwell said this sets them apart from typical district schools — the New Roots School will close if it does not meet state standards.

Protter said statistics show that charter schools in New York perform well on state exams — 92 percent pass math and 78 percent pass English/language arts. She said New Roots school will focus on the students who are failing state tests at ICSD.

“[For] students who are struggling in the current environment ... [we can] really provide them with the unique program in a small setting to give them the support that they need to succeed,” she said.

Hamilton said the new school board hopes to clear up the misunderstandings in the future.

“Over the next few weeks and months we are working on trying to educate people about the process of charter schools and New Roots in particular.”

Caldwell said she thinks the school should open regardless of opposition and the present economic state.

“Personally, I can think of a no more opportune time than now, to start a school that will focus on how to live more sustainably in this world,” she said.