Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will present a final draft of his $728 million budget for next year to board members. The budget adds 10 new reading teachers specifically for students in grades K-3, according to a background document provided by the district.

Vargas plans to move forward with longer school days in up to 10 schools next year. All City High and Northeast College Prep already offer students longer days. And he plans to increase the number of athletic programs available to students, which will increase the number of students who can participate in sports.

Though the number of classroom teachers will increase, total teaching positions will decrease. And so will non-teaching positions. “Few layoffs will be required,” according to the document provided by the district.

Vargas will hold a public meeting on the budget on Tuesday, March 26, at central office at 131 West Broad Street, at 5:30 p.m.

This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2013.

I was born and raised in the Rochester area, but I lived in California and Florida before returning home about 12 years ago. I'm a vegetarian and live with my husband and our three pugs. I cover education,...

3 replies on “Few layoffs in RCSD budget for next year”

  1. I really do not understand the general lack of precise information in this article. For example, the new budget will be $728M. How does that compare to the current year budget? If te figures I found online are accurate, it is up 3%. And the student population is dropping again. Again, the information I fund indicates a 3% student decline, so the per capita costs are going up 6%. Is it too much to expect reporters to provide simple information, or are reporters expected to simply function as PR representatives?

  2. Mike, you bring up an important and timely point. Our reporter received the press release from the school district on Sunday night, containing the information in the above blog post. Now, do we post that, knowing full well it’s incomplete and also knowing that we’ll do a much more substantial story soon after? Or do we sit on it, knowing that all the other local media have also received it and are likely to go with it immediately? That conversation is one we have almost daily in our newsroom. Thanks for your feedback. Chris Fien, City news editor

  3. I can see your point Chris. I would prefer you do the column like you did and say a follow up with more information will be forthcoming on such a date. . Personal opinion though.

Comments are closed.