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Connections
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Connections

A contentious debate about two old school buildings

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published May 6, 2026 at 3:43 PM EDT
Five smiling people wearing headphones sit around a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has short gray hair and a gray mustache and beard and is wearing glasses, a maroon sweater, jeans, and black shoes; a man front center has short dark hair and a dark mustache and beard and is wearing a white button-down shirt under a black jacket, black pants, and black shoes; a woman back left has short brown hair and is wearing a black top under a green sweater; a man back center has short dark hair and a dark mustache and beard and is wearing a blue button-down shirt; a man at right has very short dark hair and is wearing a blue pullover with gray horizontal stipes, jeans, and hiking shoes
George Yeadon
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WXXI News
(foreground) Michael Patterson, Paul Miller, (background) Sheri Webber, and Deniz Yaman with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, May 6, 2026
WXXI News

The city of Rochester has to decide what to do with two vacant school buildings.

One proposal involves selling them to local charter schools. But that proposal appears to be one vote short on city council.

We examine an issue that has become, at times, contentious.

In studio:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams