Rochester
schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says he hired Patricia Malgieri
because of what he’s heard from parents almost daily during the
last year.
“They’re
saying their children have less opportunity today than they did a
decade ago,” he says. “It saddens me daily that we have thousands
of children who have difficulty even getting into a two-year college.
Yes, we have kids who go on to Harvard and Cornell. But too many
won’t have that opportunity unless we change what we’re doing.”
Malgieri
was Rochester’s deputy mayor under Bob Duffy when Duffy pushed for
mayoral control of the school district. Vargas has hired her to be
his chief of staff.
In
an interview yesterday, Vargas was a bit punchy, like a kid who just
totaled his father’s brand new Audi. And he joked a little about a
special school board meeting tonight in which board members may
confront Vargas over the Malgieri hire.
The
meeting is at 6 p.m. at the district’s central office at 131 West
Broad Street.
The
board cannot dictate the superintendent’s cabinet-level
appointments, but board members do hold the purse strings. Vargas has
signed a four-year contract with Malgieri with a starting annual
salary of $155,000 annually. When asked if he was worried the board
may withhold the funds to pay Malgieri, Vargas said the decision was
his alone to make.
“I
don’t consider it a threat to me, but it’s a threat to
much-needed change in this district,” he said. “And I hope that’s
why they hired me.”
Malgieri
has been a vocal critic of the district and the board. Her strong
support of the Duffy administration’s push for mayoral control is
not a distant memory for most board members. She now has to work with
elected officials who would have likely seen their positions
eliminated if mayoral control had become law in Rochester. Some of
Vargas’s biggest supporters now openly question his judgment and
loyalty.
But
Vargas seemed prepared for tonight’s meeting, and he downplayed the
fuss over his decision to hire Malgieri. He says he planned to inform
board members by talking to them individually, but those plans
changed when the news was leaked to the media.
And
Vargas views Malgieri, whom he says he has known for about 20 years,
as part of his plan to assemble the best team possible to meet the
challenges the district is facing. If there was sending any message
to board members and parents, he said it was that there were no
“special deals” made for political purposes.
“I
hired her for the special talent she possesses,” he said. “She
has an extraordinary talent for analyzing data, which we need to help
us address the significant challenges we have in properly allocating
our resources.”
While
Malgieri will be heavily involved in the daily operations of the
district, and on specific problems such as improving attendance,
Vargas said he cannot achieve his goals unless inefficiencies are
squeezed out of the district.
“People
always say we don’t offer something because we don’t have the
resources, but that’s not true,” he said. “If she [Malgieri]
can help me save enough money to provide more art, music, and sports
to our children, we achieved something here.”
Vargas
said the district is losing its student population because it has
failed to make education more interesting than the street.
“We
have a culture where we spend our money on retention of kids, when we
need to be spending what we have on prevention and not intervention,”
he said.
Malgieri
agreed with that assessment in a phone interview today. She said
she’s joining the district to help make attending the city school
district an excellent experience for both parents and students. Doing
so will help give parents a reason to stay in the city instead of
pursuing other educational options when their children become school
age.
Finding
operational efficiencies has been a hallmark of her career in several
positions, she said.
When
asked about her past criticism of the district and her support of
mayoral control, she would only say that she will support the
superintendent’s priorities.
Malgieri
is part of what Vargas is calling his new leadership team, which also
includes William Ansbrow as chief financial officer for the district;
Beverly Burrell-Moore, deputy superintendent for teaching and
learning; and Anita Murphy, deputy superintendent of administration
and operations.
Ansbrow
is a long-time public employee, most recently working as the city’s
budget director. Burrell-Moore is a city school graduate and has been
a teacher and a principal. She was an administrator with the
Rush-Henrietta Central School District.
Murphy
joins the district after serving as the state’s associate
commissioner of education for curriculum, instruction, and field
services.
Burrell-Moore
and Murphy have already started working with the district, and
Ansbrow and Malgieri will join later this month. Malgieri said she
will continue working in her current position as president of the
Hillside Work Scholarship Connection until Friday, August 24, and
start with the district on Monday, August 27.
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2012.
