Northeast Ohio established its first public medical school less than 40 years ago. From the get-go, it was different.

Its six-year program combined bachelors and medical degrees. Lawmakers affiliated it with three universities, not one.

And they set up the campus away from all of three of them in the tiny community of Rootstown off Interstate 76.  About the only other buildings of note in the town are the Rootstown school district  … across the street.

Now, Rootstown and the Northeastern Ohio Medical University are launching a charter school – a first-of-its-kind charter school in Ohio.

Stephanie Lammlein is introducing the Bio-Med Science Academy at a retreat of the teachers, community members and others who will help it happen. She scribbles notes across proposed calendars and outlines as they make suggestions.

Lammlein grew up in Akron, has been teaching for 15 years and is the force behind Biomed.

The concept for the school came up at lunch about a year ago. Lammlein was there. So was John Wray, the medical school’s vice president of finance. And Andrew Hawkins, Rootstown’s superintendent.

Where they are is about two months from a lottery drawing for the 60 to 100 freshmen who will make up the first class at Bio-Med.

The kids will begin class on the medical school campus next August and continue year round. Hawkins says the calendar is one important difference.

The school expects to draw about 80 percent of its enrollment from Portage County. But Hawkins says it plan to cast wider for prospective students.

And Stephanie Lammlein insists geography isn’t the only diversity she’s looking for.

Lammlein’s goal aligns with a broader goal of the medical school. John Wray says that goes well beyond recruiting med students.

Bio-Med will join a statewide network of 11 schools focused on science, technology, engineering and math. But Lammlein sees the whole thing as a philosophy, more than subject

Lammlein acknowledges one potential roadblock. Any kid who comes to Bio-Med from any other public school district takes 56-hundred dollars in state funding with him or her. Nearly every school district in the state isfacing a big financial squeeze. So some may be reluctant to get the word out and promote Bio-Med as an alternative. As with a lot of things, Lammlein thinks she has an answer.

During the first year of the school, Bio-Med students will attend class in medical school classrooms. After that, it plans to build a high-school building on campus – though still use the medical school’s labs and expertise.