The Rochester city school board is getting close to naming a new superintendent, but there are now calls to pause the search that began last summer.
One of those calling for the district to put on the brakes is Monroe County Legislature President Yversha Roman, whose district includes part of northwest Rochester.
“Another leadership change amid a constantly changing landscape will negatively impact our district families,” Roman said in an open letter to school board members on Monday. “I strongly urge you to pause this search and focus on stability rather than transition.”
Roman said in her letter that she was unaware of the ongoing search, but also said that she was aware that there was a plan and a timeline to appoint a new superintendent and was concerned about a lack of transparency and community engagement in that process.
“That was before the reality of the federal concerns we all currently face,” she said.
In response, legislator Rachel Barnhart (District 17) authored her own open letter to the school board and the community, pushing back on calls to pause the search.
“The fact is this board has conducted a thorough and transparent search,” Barnhart said. “There is no reason to doubt that the board will select a highly qualified superintendent who can make meaningful contributions to our community. I urge you to stay the course.”
The Rochester Board of Education’s process for a new superintendent started last summer. The board unanimously approved a $50,000 contract with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates in July.
By September, one of the newest school board members, Isaiah Santiago, said the decision to go through a search process was a mistake.
“We have amazing potential right here next to us,” Santiago said. “I 100% stand by our interim superintendent and that's because stability is important. And I also stand behind him for permanent superintendent.”
The board appointed Demario Strickland as interim superintendent in May. He was previously Deputy Superintendent of teaching and learning.
During a Facebook livestream on Wednesday, school board member Beatriz LeBron said that she’d reached out to elected officials requesting they talk to other board members about the decision to continue the search. She favors Strickland.
“The school board is making a grave mistake with bringing in an outsider,” she said. “We already have someone who is capable and qualified.”
LeBron was the board vice president until a vote last month removed her and former president Cynthia Elliott from board leadership.
Strickland’s predecessor, Carmine Peluso, was appointed interim superintendent in 2022 after then-superintendent Lesli Myers-Small left, and was then made permanent a couple months later.
But if the historical record is any indication, leadership stability at RCSD is not guaranteed when an interim is promoted to permanent.
"This board believes that Carmine is the stability that will help us move forward,” then-board president Cynthia Elliott said in Dec. 2022 when the board announced that Peluso would take on the permanent role.
Peluso resigned the following school year.
If the school board follows a schedule published on the district’s website, it will be set to hire a permanent superintendent in March.
The candidate would begin the role in July.
