At least two Rochester elementary schools could exit receivership by next school year.
School 16 and School 28 were placed in receivership status by the state after demonstrating low student achievement. There are currently six schools in the district with this designation.
Those schools have a designated receiver empowered to make considerable changes to things like curriculum and staff training. The state provides additional funding through school improvement grants.
“One of the misconceptions about receivership schools is that they're the lowest performing schools in our system. And what we want to show you is the work that's being done at those schools are actually causing them to flourish,” Chief of Elementary Schools Rhonda Morien said. “And by flourish I mean get better than some of our district averages.”
Changes at School 16 for this school year include adding a preschool special education class, and a specific fourth-grade class for students with Autism, according to a New York State Education Department report.
Principal Lisa Garrow, who led School 16 through receivership, moved on to School 33. And a new principal, Ryan Clair, was appointed. Clair formerly held the same position at School 39.
School board member Amy Maloy expressed concern during a school board meeting this week that if schools have that status removed, that additional state money also would go away.
“My fear is that all that progress at those individual schools could be lost if we can't maintain that funding level or stream,” Maloy said.
But Morien said that’s not a major concern.
“Schools do lose money when they come out of receivership, but good teaching and learning doesn't cost a lot of money,” Morien said. “And so, if we fix or improve high-quality teaching and learning, regardless of the money coming in, we'll be in a much better place.”
The other schools on the receivership list are School 33, East Lower, Monroe, and Edison Tech.
School 33’s student outcomes in math and English language arts trail School 16 and School 28. But it also could soon shed that status as well.
However, while the elementary schools have improved their performance, it’s not clear yet if secondary schools are on that same trajectory.
“With high school, we look at two big things. We look at the graduation numbers, and we're still awaiting those Regents results,” Morien said. “So that's why we haven't been able to determine if our high schools are on track to hit their indicators.”
An earlier version of this story reported that School 16 leadership was removed as part of the receivership changes. They were reassigned this school year, not removed.
