The US Supreme Court will hear a legal challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act beginning on March 27. In anticipation, a local collaborative group that includes representatives of the LGBT, religious, and labor communities will hold a couple of events this week. Under DOMA, marriage is limited to one man and one woman […]
Rochester school district
Posted inNews & Opinion
Few layoffs in RCSD budget for next year
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 […]
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Rebellion in education funding
Michael Rebell isn’t a household name, but to many New York educators and parents, particularly those in New York City, he’s a hero. Rebell was co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit against the state. Rebell argued that the state was failing to provide the New York City school district […]
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Teachers may take over some schools in Rochester
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas has asked the Rochester Teachers Association to present plans for schools to be run by teachers instead of central office administration and principals. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Any proposals for teacher-led schools would be part of the administration’s new contract negotiations, which have just started, RTA President Adam Urbanski told about 200 teachers […]
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Vargas delivers final version of plan for schools overhaul
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas presented school board members with an updated version of his plan to renovate 38 schools over the next 11 years at a special meeting last night. Nine of the buildings are already in the first phase of construction of the $1.2 billion project, the largest of its kind in the […]
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School 16 will re-open, after all
Residents of the 19th Ward Community Association fighting to save School 16 in the Rochester school district scored a victory tonight as Superintendent Bolgen Vargas announced that the school would be renovated and re-opened. Numerous maintenance issues with the school forced its closure last year. Since that time, Vargas has insisted that the school is […]
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Future of School 16 surveyed
Tonight, Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will tell members of the school board which district buildings, including schools, he wants included in the second phase of the long-term project to overhaul and modernize the RCSD’s infrastructure. The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at the district’s central office, 131 West Broad Street. I’ll be curious to […]
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Praising attendance, appealing suspensions
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas has adopted another strategy to address the problem of chronic truancy in the district: recognizing students who are models of good attendance. Vargas and Mayor Tom Richards personally visited the homes of four district families, chosen because those students and their siblings had exceptional attendance records in schools where attendance […]
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Schools, neighborhoods,and the future of the city
Every once in a while, the topic of neighborhood schools comes up in Rochester. And while part of this stems from nostalgia, there’s also a fiscal argument. The Rochester school district spends a lot of money busing children to schools outside of their neighborhood. The reason: the district’s “school choice” system, which lets parents choose […]
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WEEK AHEAD: Proposed gun ban, RCSD budget hearing, downtown safety meeting
A County Legislature committee will vote tonight on a Democratic proposal to ban guns from county buildings. The measure will be considered by the Agenda/Charter Committee, which meets at 6 p.m. today at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. Under current county policy, members of the public cannot bring guns into buildings owned […]
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Condoms available in city schools
The Rochester school district will begin making condom availability free to high school students beginning next Monday, February 25. The new condom availability program, which the Rochester school board approved last year, requires school nurses to distribute the condoms. Parents and guardians were notified by mail last October. Parents agree to allow their child to […]
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Scouting ways out of the culture war
Joel Helfrich was once a Boy Scout, eventually earning enough merit badges to reach Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle Scout. His experience with the Scouts while growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Pittsford was wonderful, he says, yet last year Helfrich renounced his affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America. Helfrich returned all of his scouting […]
