Rochester city school leaders are grappling with low student achievement trends.
This school year’s expected graduation rate at the Rochester City School District is lower than last year’s. About 64% of the class of 2023 is on track to graduate from the district.
In 2021, the graduation rate was 71% with 191 students dropping out.
Data from the district presented to the school board on Tuesday shows that more than 200 students in the 2023 class have fewer than six credits. Across all high school grades, 30% of students are failing classes so far this year.
School board member Camille Simmons, who heads the equity and student achievement committee, said transitions in leadership have not helped provide the kind of stability that students need in order to be successful.
“How do we get this far? I'm tripping over this," Simmons said. "So let me just be frank, I'm tripping because I'm like, it's five or six months left in the school year, and we have some kids with five credits. Come on now.”
The class of 2023 entered high school in 2019. By December of that school year, more than 100 teachers were laid off to offset a budget deficit.
Then in March, the spring semester devolved into a sudden shift to remote learning and school building shutdowns with the arrival of COVID-19.
In April, then-Superintendent Terry Dade resigned about 10 months into his tenure. Former Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small took his place but resigned this summer after school board members allegedly pressured her to step down from her position. The district is currently being led by interim superintendent Carmine Peluso.
“Was there an opportunity to catch this well before now?” Simmons said. “I understand that we are under new leadership and transitioning, but we're always under new leadership and transitioning. That's the problem now.”
Shanie Keelean, the district’s chief academic officer, said that while it’s a tough lift, there is work being done to help students catch up to where they need to be academically. That includes things like online credit courses, after school, and weekend programming.
“The work that's happening intensely around the students and the ones who aren't there yet, from what I've seen in the data charts that I've seen, people aren't leaving any stones unturned,” Keelean said.
Board of Education Vice President Beatriz LeBron said it is not solely up to the district to lift students out of failing grades, but extra support outside of school is important because six hours a day of academic instruction isn’t enough to fully ensure that students are well-educated.
