New Roots Charter School, since its opening in 2009, has been a source of controversy within the Ithaca community. In December, the school announced a proposal to expand to include a middle school for grades 6 through 8 starting in the 2018–2019 school year, and at the first public hearing on the proposal, the debate continued. The hearing, hosted by the ICSD Board of Education (BoE), took place on Wednesday January 17, with some of the most vocal critics and advocates for the charter school present.
A diverse group was in attendance, comprised of students, parents, teachers, and other community members, in addition to some members of the BoE. Board President Robert Ainslie began by emphasizing that this was not a normal board meeting, and that it was by law that ICSD, the home district of New Roots, had to host the hearing. Although much of the funding for the school is derived from ICSD, where most of its student body comes from, New Roots is not under the authority of the BoE, but is instead under the administrative control of the SUNY Charter School Institute, based in Albany.
Most speakers—especially the many current New Roots students in attendance—spoke in favor of New Roots, and indicated support for the proposed expansion. “New Roots saved my life,” boldly claimed one student, a senior at the school, who went on to say that he would not be on track to go to college without New Roots. Another student, also a senior, declared that she would not have stayed in school if she were stuck with IHS. Two of the speakers were participants in New Roots’ LEAP Program, a one-year high school preparatory program offered by the school to students ages 12 to 15, and both students spoke favorably of their time in the program in comparison to previous schools which they had attended. Also speaking was New Roots Principal Tina Nilsen-Hodges, who discussed what she saw as a need for a Montessori-style public middle school. Nilsen-Hodges also claimed that having students start New Roots earlier would lead to higher graduation rates, citing the fact that at the moment, those who start at New Roots in their freshman year graduate at a higher rate than those who do not start until later in high school.
While not constituting a majority of those speaking, those critical of New Roots and the proposed expansion were able to make their case and express their skepticism of the school. One community member listed her many grievances with the school in its current form, and expressed disapproval with the idea of adding a middle school. She accused the school of exaggerating demand for expansion, and was critical of New Roots’ academic value, citing its graduation rate and proficiency rates in math and English, all of which are lower than in ICSD (New Roots had a 70 percent graduation rate in 2016). Once all of the speakers finished, BoE members expressed their views, almost entirely in opposition to the addition of a middle school. Board member Eldred Harris said that when a student leaves ICSD for New Roots, ICSD is forced to give up some funding even though operational costs at IHS remain the same, resulting in New Roots having a negative effect on ICSD students. Harris went on to indicate that while he recognized some of the value of choice in high schools, the same choice is unnecessary in middle school.
At the end, board members addressed Nilsen-Hodges directly, asking questions about the proposed middle school. They also asked about the current LEAP program, which they had never heard about before, and for which no similar public hearing had ever been held. Board member Patricia Wasyliw inquired as to what LEAP’s fate would be if there ended up being a middle school, to which Nilsen-Hodges responded with uncertainty, only saying that the program’s continued existence would be dependent on if there continued to be demand.
New Roots has announced that the school is looking at locations within a block of its current site at the Clinton House as sites for the proposed middle school, and that it aspires to enroll a total of sixty students. The final decision about the creation of a New Roots Middle School will be made by the SUNY Charter Institute.