SUNY board approves New Roots school

By Liz Lawyer
Journal Staff

A new charter school is scheduled to open in Ithaca in fall of 2009.

The State University of New York Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved the application to open New Roots Charter School.

The next step for the application is review by the state Board of Regents, although their decision will not have bearing on whether the charter is granted, said Tina Nilsen-Hodges, primary applicant for New Roots. Nilsen-Hodges said she is confident the application for New Roots meets the Board of Regents' criteria, but even if they refuse their approval the charter will become effective after 30 days.

The SUNY board accepted seven applications for school charters from across the state, including five in the boroughs of New York City, one in Hempstead, and the one in Ithaca.

“We are very excited by the Trustees' vote of confidence in New Roots,” said Jason Hamilton, chairman of the proposed New Roots Board of Trustees. “Now the hard work to launch the school begins.”

The school will be officially incorporated no sooner than 90 days from now, and no later than early March, Nilsen-Hodges said.

Nilsen-Hodges said the New Roots Board of Trustees now will be able to enter into more serious discussions about finding a place to house the school, selecting a principal and hiring staff. The first thing they will do is organize focus groups with parents and prospective students and other members of the community, she said.

“We as a team are most interested in developing community engagement in the planning process,” she said. “We are building a school from the ground up. We want to meet the needs of the people we will be serving.”

Nilsen-Hodges said the information in the application will provide a framework for the discussions and planning within the board and with the community to build on.

Nilsen-Hodges intends to apply to be the principal and she is the only applicant, she said. She also has two sons, ages 11 and 13, who might apply for enrollment in the school, she said.

She also said that during the interview process the Charter Schools Institute asked the proposed board members whether they would be able to fire Nilsen-Hodges, even though she was instrumental in the creation of the school.

“The answer was, ‘Absolutely,' ” she said. But Nilsen-Hodges said she did not anticipate that would be necessary.

“My training gives me confidence this is something I can do and do well,” she said.

“Tina is uniquely qualified to take on the responsibilities associated with being the founding principal of New Roots,” said Peter Bardaglio, vice chairman of the proposed school board and former provost and vice president for academic affairs at Ithaca College. “She has 16 years of teaching experience, is a New York state certified teacher, and has received her New York State School Building Leader Initial Certificate. At the same time, it is important to remember that her work as founding principal will be subject to regular, ongoing performance evaluations. New Roots board members will expect Tina to meet the rigorous standards associated with the position of New Roots principal.”

The Board of Education of the Ithaca City School District has expressed concern that the charter school would be too much of a financial burden for the district. New Roots would be entitled to $12,476 per student, equaling about $1,559,549 in the 2009-10 school year, or 1.58 percent of the district's budget. In the fifth year, accounting for increased cost of tuition, higher enrollment in the charter school, and the district's growing budget, the school would get $14,042 per child, adding up to $3,159,515, or 2.85 percent of the budget.

The Charter Schools Institute said they conducted a “rigorous review” of the application, both from an educational and financial standpoint, and found the school to be viable.

In the first year, the school would enroll up to 125 ninth and 10th graders. At maximum enrollment the school would take 225 students in grades nine through 12.

Nilsen-Hodges said the board is considering a downtown campus, possibly with multiple buildings, to give students a chance to interact with the community more and have access to internships and community service projects.