The New York state Department of Education has dismissed a petition filed by former Rochester school board member James Patterson seeking the removal of board member Isaiah Santiago.
Patterson filed the petition last year. He alleged that Santiago called him the N-word during an argument. Santiago announced the dismissal in a news release Thursday.
"I remain fully committed to serving the students and families of our district with integrity, transparency, and leadership centered on student success," Santiago said in the release. "While this process has at times been challenging, my focus has never wavered from the work that truly matters: serving the community that raised me, strengthening our schools, and ensuring every child has access to opportunity and quality education."
The Education Department's decision noted that Santiago issued a public apology to Patterson and the other school board members, but that Patterson thought the statement was insincere. In it, Santiago apologized for his role in what he said had become a distraction but denied using the slur. The state’s decision noted that Patterson was given a deadline to respond to Santiago's request to dismiss the application, but that he missed it.
The decision said Patterson's petition was dismissed because he "has not presented sufficient evidence to justify continuation of this application" seeking Santiago's removal for "use of inappropriate language on a single occasion."
Santiago was first elected to the school board in 2023 when he was 19 years old. He became the youngest person ever elected to the school board.
