ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Would a military academy work in the city of Rochester? Leaders of an advisory panel are looking into this idea and are now seeking community input in the form of a survey.
The survey is anonymous, short and concise, 15 questions in all. One survey can be found on the Rochester City School District's website and is open to anyone interested in sharing their thoughts about a possible military-style public school. The second survey was sent to students and school administrators throughout Monroe County, as well as students and staff at charter and private schools.
"Any good research project should get a survey done from all the stakeholders," said Todd Baxter.
Baxter is co-chair of the committee assigned to look at the feasibility of what would be the first public military school in New York state. Baxter says there remain unanswered questions regarding the proposal questions like, would it be a district-run school, a charter or a combination, what are the legal limitations, what is the curriculum, and why is a military school a good option.
"If we implement another school, there's this theory of change and every time you do change inside any district, in any organization, it causes a bit of havoc, so we've got to be careful that we're not just changing for the change sake, because it sounds good," said Baxter.
Baxter says research has also included a look at a Buffalo charter school as a model to follow, saying it has had some success in graduation rates.
Time Warner Cable News spoke on the phone with the school leader of Western New York Maritime Charter School in Buffalo.
"They know it's an environment where they can learn, and there's no bullying here, there's no drugs here, there's no fights here, there's none of that stuff because they all know it's wrong and so they buy into our honor concept, and honor code," said Lt. Col. Lawrence Astyk.
"They've got what we call scar tissue already. They've already gone through the growing pains , they've learned some lessons, so we're gonna take advantage of that," said Baxter.
The survey will remain open until March 7. The Advisory panel is expected to make recommendations to the Rochester School board by early April.
"We think given another option in the school district, an option that might be available to anyone inside Monroe County, would be wonderful," said Baxter.