Roosevelt official: We won't miss deadline

The Roosevelt school district won't miss a critical deadline for securing a $1.9 million School Improvement Grant, a board member said, although the state's education chief Tuesday issued a warning that it was among districts that could lose the funding.

Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. said eight districts -- including New York City -- might jeopardize the aid by failing to submit required teacher and administrator evaluation plans by Jan. 1.

Roosevelt board member Alfred Taylor said the district approved its new evaluation plan Thursday and would send the related paperwork to the state on time.

"For a school system like Roosevelt, those grants are key to our achievement," Taylor said. "We are not a reserve-heavy or revenue-heavy district, so it's instrumental."

The Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Albany, Schenectady, Poughkeepsie and Greenburgh 11 districts also receive SIG funding; Rochester and Syracuse are the only two that have submitted the necessary materials for review. The state will take action Jan. 1 to suspend SIG monies, King said.

"The last thing the students need is to lose resources because the adults who run those schools won't fulfill their responsibilities," the commissioner said in a statement. "When the ball drops at midnight on New Year's Eve, the money drops off the table."

Federal Teacher Incentive Funds -- which support the use of performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools -- and federal Race to the Top monies also could be lost if districts don't meet the deadline, King said.

All states award SIG monies to persistently underperforming schools that pledge to improve using one of several models suggested by the federal Department of Education.

The Roosevelt district was taken over by the state nearly 10 years ago and is slowly gaining its independence. All of its current board members were elected -- not appointed by the state as they were under the takeover, Taylor said.

The school system is headed in a new direction, particularly as the community is regaining control, he said.

"A lot of people are taking an interest in the school district," Taylor said. "In the past, community involvement dwindled because we didn't have control."