Nearly a year ago, Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas ended his comments in a public meeting with an ominous statement. “We’re running out of time,” he said, referring to the need to improve student performance. In an interview earlier today, Vargas said that all the community has to do is look west at the Buffalo […]
RCSD
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Changing my mind about charter schools
Right now, 10 charter schools are operating in the City of Rochester. Soon, you can expect to see more. The Farash Foundation plans to award up to $1 million in grants to spur charter growth in the region. While the grants will be available to selected charter schools in Monroe and Ontario Counties, nearly all […]
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New focus on Rochester’s at-risk male students
This is a corrected version of this blogIt’s been more than a year since Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas launched efforts to significantly expand the amount of time students spend in school. The concept, often referred to as expanded learning, usually extends the amount of time students receive instruction in core subjects. And students are […]
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RCSD offers employees city homebuying incentive
Many first-time homebuyers are surprised to learn that reaching an agreement with the seller on a price is only one step in the purchasing process. In addition to a down payment, buyers typically have to come up with closing costs — which can be several thousand dollars. This adds up to a lot of cash […]
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City schools’ disgruntled customers
While many of the city school district’s problems are linked to severe child poverty, some are caused by plain old bad management and a culture of apathy.
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Tim Mains lands schools superintendent job in Jamestown
The Jamestown school board has appointed Tim Mains – a longtime educator, politician, LGBT activist – as superintendent of that city’s public schools. Jamestown’s gain is a loss for Rochester. He’ll oversee a much smaller school district than Rochester’s, and one that isn’t facing nearly the same level of difficulties. But the move could be […]
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Questions linger about RCSD’s plan for longer days
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas has made longer school days a cornerstone of his strategy to improve student performance. Three schools served as pilot programs this year, and Vargas plans to have a total of 10 schools with longer days beginning this fall. But some parents, teachers, and school board members aren’t sold on the […]
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Rochester school board candidates see only the tip of the iceberg
Some of the most memorable politicians possess a remarkable mix of showmanship, persuasiveness, and likeability. But they often lack the ability to predict future disasters even when the signs are floating all around them. Howard Eagle, Ernest Flagler, Ronald Hall, Tim McCauley, and Candice Lucas each made compelling pitches to mostly parents last night for […]
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The RCSD’s grant dependency
Grants have become a crucial part of the Rochester City School District’s yearly budget. How important are they? Consider that the RCSD now receives about $100 million in grant money annually from federal, state, and private funding sources. And grants make up 13 percent of the budget just approved by the school board for the […]
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RCSD: Longer days for an out-of-school culture?
More than a year ago, Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas launched a major campaign to improve abysmally low student attendance in the city school district. Now teachers are in the hot seat. Vargas has sent an email to teachers saying that 730 of them were absent last Friday, and he he’s concerned that teacher absenteeism […]
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Rochester school board passes $734 million budget
Last night, the Rochester school board unanimously approved a $734 million budget for the coming school year. The budget is about $6 million more than what Superintendent Bolgen Vargas proposed several months ago, and it will fund longer school days in as many as 10 schools this fall. The budget closes a $50.2 million gap […]
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Rochester’s grad rate dips again
The four-year graduation rate for the Rochester school district dropped by one point, according to the New York State Education Department. The SED has released its Report Cards for districts throughout the state, and out of Rochester’s 2007 cohort of 2,868 students, 50 percent graduated in 2012, down from 51 percent from the prior school […]
