Riverhead Charter School Likely to Stay Open

By John Hildebrand, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

May 17–After months of uncertainty, state monitors who once called for shuttering the Riverhead Charter School reversed themselves Friday and recommended a one-year extension of operations.

A final decision on the fate of the 290-student school is to be reached by the state’s Board of Regents in the coming week. The Regents’ representative on Long Island, Roger Tilles, said Friday that he expects the extension to be granted.

Friday’s recommended reprieve came as a relief for parents, who often describe the school as a last resort for children in grades K-6 who have failed to learn in traditional public schools. Charter schools operate independently with public funds based on the number of students they attract.

“I’m ecstatic about it,” said Christina Santo Pietro of Calverton, who enrolled her two young children in the charter school last fall. The school occupies two buildings a mile and a half from her home.

Santo Pietro said the school had been of particular help for her son, Erick Ramos, 8, a first-grader who has autism. She recalled that the boy never took a spelling test in his former public school. In contrast, she said, he is tested weekly at the charter school and his spelling has greatly improved.

Some former parents, however, have complained that the school failed to provide required services for their children.

In December, State Education Department staffers recommended to the Regents that the school’s charter not be renewed when it expires in July. The recommendation was based on what staffers described as frequent turnover in the school’s management, falling test scores and shaky finances.

In reversing themselves Friday, staffers reported that the school had met the state’s latest academic targets on English and math tests. The day before, the school also was cited by the state as one of 23 on Long Island where scores were rapidly improving.

The state’s report included objections from the Riverhead and Longwood districts, which have lost funds that went with students that have transferred to the charter school. Still, state monitors concluded that the charter school merited an extension of its charter to June 30, 2009, when it can request more permanent status.

The school’s principal, Dorothy Porteus, who took over last summer, said she was pleased by the state’s latest recommendation. She added, however, that the school still faces major challenges, which include paying off $4 million in debt to their corporate sponsor, Edison Schools, with which they’re now severing ties.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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