Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s warning in his recent State of our Schools speech that the community faces its “last chance” to turn around the city’s troubled district left many people wondering what, exactly, he meant.
In an interview after the event, Vargas said he wasn’t trying to be provocative when he made the comment. Success is still possible, he said, but time is running out because the community is losing faith in the district’s capabilities.
“It’s our last chance to show some improvement,” he said. “Families and the community will not continue to support us.”
Vargas said he hasn’t received any specific warnings from the State Education Department, but did say that greater government oversight is possible if the Rochester school district didn’t begin to show progress.
“They’ve been nothing but supportive,” he said.
But the situation is dire. Rochester has the lowest graduation rate — 48 percent — of all of the state’s big five school districts, with 55 schools on the state’s list of schools in urgent need of improvement. And during his speech, Vargas said the district’s graduation rate could get worse before it gets better because the state has steadily raised academic standards over the last four years.
The district will continue to focus on improving student attendance, achieving reading proficiency by third grade, early childhood and pre-K education, and expanding the school day to reverse years of academic decline, Vargas said.
He also said he wants to make the city’s neighborhood schools so attractive to parents that they will not feel compelled to explore other options, such as charter schools.
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2013.
there is no hope for rcsd…the only hope is dissolution of the district and disbursement of the students througout monroe county. Any person with a clear mind and common sense knows this. However, political sense forbids it. If monroe county citisens don’t realize this then they are uncaring and don’t really give a f*** about minorities in monroe county…period.. Basically they feel that RCSD students will corrupt their children. I guess they they have a low esteem of their own children.
Last year right before my son’s first year in Kindergarten I moved to the North Winton area of the city and quickly learned what a horrendous/ridiculous process it was to simply enroll my son in the city school system. The area and the building they require you to register your child for school in is right across the street from the DSS building and does not exactly promote education or encourage people to want to register their children. Not to mention there are only 4-5 parking spaces reserved for parents that want to register their children for school in a large parking lot that does offer any additional parking, you must have a reserved spot. Therefore, you have to attempt to find parking elsewhere in the area. I was not very pleased to find parking on a side street with broken glass on the sidewalk along with empty beer bottles and other litter I care not to mention. Upon entering the building you’re greeted with a Sheriff in which you have to provide you identification to as well as sign in, again this is not a comforting and welcoming feeling that the City School is providing to first time parents. I felt as if I was arriving at the DMV to register a vehicle not provide my son with his earliest education experience. I brought him with because he was excited to start school and I wanted to involve him in the process, I’m not saying that it wasn’t a place for a child but it’s not exactly what I expected, I expected more. The people then at the front desk treat you just like you are at the DMV, reviewing your paperwork, pointing out mistakes and making you do it all over again. They send you to a waiting room and make you wait until they have selected the “right” school for your child. They don’t provide any privacy when you’re discussing the school they selected for you child, or what factors they used to determine the school. Their answer is definite, there is no alternative to the option they provide and it really is disheartening. My son ended up attending school #39 the furthest school from our home I selected, I was beyond confused. Thankfully his teacher was wonderful I will say that, but there was 23 children to one teacher. It’s crazy. My son got lost in the mix of the other children, you can’t expect 23 children to learn at the same pace. I could go on on and about the problems he had his first year, between the lack of communication and the lack of structure, the lack of policy, it needs a serious restructure. Fortunately, now my son is in private school and I don’t have to deal with the RCSD anymore, it’s a true cluster of nonsense.
hello, along the lines of improving the state of education in our community, i have recently sent the superintendent a letter suggesting that he might want to get involved in ridding our water supply of flouride. i have also written maggie brooks, mayor richards, and MCWD. only maggie brooks and the water district have bothered to write me back. i have been given the pat answer that it is necessary for dental health, yet they continue to ignore all the evidence, which i cited, that states that flouride in water lessens IQ. should we not start here and give the students a leg up? many cities have removed it. why don’t we? will some politician or official step up and take this on? people can start by buying a good filter which removes most of the contaminants from the water and at least protect themselves and their family.