The State Education Department says it’s ready to step in and assist the Rochester City School District with much-needed improvements.
That’s according to Ken Slentz, the Deputy Commissioner of P-12 Education with the State.
His comments come after Rochester was identified as a Focus District by the State Education Department. The classification means it’s ranked in the lowest 5% in New York because of its ELA and Math scores for minorities and students with disabilities.
Slentz said this means the district has a variety of obligations, but also a variety of opportunities to turn itself around.
"For their priority schools, writing turnaround plans for those schools for what the improvement is going to look like,” Slentz said. “Making sure they have plans in place for their focus (schools) as well, for how improvement is going to take place there - all of which is supported by School Improvement grants, for example, which makes a school eligible for up to $2 million a year of federal dollars with an improved plan."
Slentz explained while Rochester is one of 70 Focus Districts in the State, it also has a number of Focus Schools and Priority Schools that will require extra oversight to improve student achievement. Slentz said the State will send teams to the district, likely once a month, to work with school principals on professional development and better classroom oversight. The teams will also provide a diagnostic tool to better evaluate teachers and assist with the implementation of the new common core curriculum.
Slentz says the district's turnaround plans are being supported by Race to the Top and School Improvement grants.