Busing city students has been a source of controversy for several years and for multiple reasons. Many parents and school officials want the school district to bus their children to school rather than having them walk, citing neighborhood safety concerns and the need to increase attendance. But the cost of transporting city students has mushroomed […]
Rochester School Board
Posted inNews & Opinion
Brizard headed to Buffalo?
Former Rochester schools Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard is a finalist in the Buffalo school board’s search for a new superintendent.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Vargas says he’s ‘100-percent committed’ to the RCSD
There was a small crack in the Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s silence last week concerning his notice of claim against the city school board. Vargas wouldn’t say whether he intends to proceed with the litigation, but he did speculate about his future with the district. Vargas talked about his job performance, starting with a […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Revised law empowers school supers
A revision to the state education law concerning failing schools could give Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas substantially more authority at a time when he’s at serious odds with the school board over management. Though it’s still unclear, the law appears to give Vargas the ability to make sweeping decisions to improve failing schools, including […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Talks may decide Vargas’s future
It’s unclear whether Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the school board will recover from a dispute over the superintendent’s powers, or if Vargas will even fulfill his contract with the school district.
Posted inNews & Opinion
The latest bad news from the city school district
Tension between the superintendent and the school board has
erupted into public view, and that’s terrible in many ways – not the least of
which is that any bad news from the district reinforces the public’s poor
opinion of it.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Feedback 12/24
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. We need […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Can the school board, superintendent, and community work together?
Just weeks before Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the school board have to go into serious budget talks for the coming school year, both Vargas and school board President Van White face a difficult test. White initiated a far-reaching search for ideas from the community on improving student performance in city schools. Four committees […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Recommendations for improving city schools: What now?
Last week, about 60 city students got a preview of recommendations to improve city schools. And as anyone who was there can tell you, the students responded with incredible enthusiasm and insight. The recommendations are the culmination of more than a month’s work by committees of teachers, parents, and community leaders. Rochester school board President Van […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The district’s ‘Who done it?’
City school officials and school board members say they’re taking seriously a package sent to the Democrat and Chronicle containing personal information about school board President Van White. Though the package’s contents were meant to discredit White, the situation has instead become a serious test of leadership for both Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the board. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Public meeting on RCSD budget
Rochester schools superintendent Bolgen Vargas will present his proposed budget for the 2014-2015 school year at 6:15 p.m. today at the district’s central office, 131 West Broad Street. The presentation will be followed by two “budget open houses.” The first will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12, at Wilson Foundation Academy, 200 […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Attack on White boomerangs
This is a corrected version of this blog: 2-7-14 at 8:26 a.m. Here we go again. Even when you try to maintain a sense of hope for the city school district, it’s easily dashed. The latest example comes from a story reported yesterday by the Democrat and Chronicle’s David Andreatta. This is what we know […]
