ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester’s Board of Education is opposing the sale of two former RCSD schools.
School Number 20 could go to Young Women’s College Prep, and School 29 could sell to the Rochester Academy of Science. The Rochester City School District Board of Education argues selling the buildings to charter schools would nullify the purpose of “right-sizing” the district by closing the schools in the first place, stating its opposition in a release sent to media Monday afternoon.
City Council will hear from the public on this issue Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
“City Council is getting feedback from the community at large and will listen to everything that is shared in our effort to make the best decision possible for Rochester and its residents,” Patterson said in response.
Following is the RCSD Board of Education’s full letter:
As the Rochester City Council considers the sale of the former Henry Lomb School 20 and Adlai Stevenson School 29 to charter school operators, the Board of Education is compelled to voice its strongest opposition. This is not merely a matter of real estate; it is a fundamental question regarding the future viability of the Rochester City School District.
While we understand the City’s desire to move vacated properties, selling these buildings to charter schools creates a cycle of disinvestment that directly undermines our public school system.
The decision to vacate Schools 20 and 29 was a difficult part of a necessary “right-sizing” strategy to stabilize the district. However, that strategy is rendered moot if the City immediately reopens those same doors to competing charter schools. To “right-size” the RCSD while simultaneously subsidizing the expansion of the charter sector is a contradictory and unsustainable policy. By providing infrastructure to the charter sector, the City is actively facilitating the further decline of RCSD enrollment.
We must address the mounting fiscal pressure on our district. Charter school enrollment in Rochester has surged over the last decade, and the financial impact is staggering. Our current budget necessitates a transfer of over $150 million to charter schools, money that is pulled directly away from our ability to provide essential services, mental health support, and extracurricular programs for the 21,000 students who remain in our care.
As City Council leadership stated in their own 2022 call for district right-sizing, we must stop working against one another: “so often, we operate in inefficient silos—it is time we work together to benefit our scholars, our residents, and our city.”
We urge the City Council to reject these sales and instead work with us to find uses for these buildings that do not come at the expense of the Rochester City School District’s future.
On behalf of the Rochester Board of Education,
President Camille SimmonsRochester Board of Education
Rochester Board of Education opposes sale of two former RCSD schools to charter schools WHEC.com.
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