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City School District Turns To Former Leaders To Boost Student Performance

Rochester School Superintendent Bolgen Vargas is hoping that three high-performing educators will help the city school district raise graduation rates.

Vargas is announcing that three former leaders of high-performing city schools will return to leadership roles in the district.  They include Ray Giamartino, who is currently Superintendent of the East Rochester School District and a former city school administrator;  Suzanne Johnston, longtime principal of the Wilson Magnet  High School and Ralph Spezio, who spent 12 years as principal of School number 17.

Vargas says these are well respected educators.

"They have the trust of their community, the trust of their peers, they have a track record, " Vargas told WXXI News.

Vargas says these three educators are part of a turnaround effort to try and improve student performance. A recent  report by the State Education Department showed that the number of seniors who graduated on time continues to be below 50-percent.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.