New rules for RCSD commissioner school visits adopted

Rochester City School District board members have new procedures for school visits.

As part of their responsibilities, each board member serves as liaison to a number of schools, requiring them to make an official visit at least once a year. The liaison policy began years ago when previous board members failed to check on schools regularly, President Cynthia Elliott recalled.

A resolution passed recently adds more specifications to those visits, particularly for scheduling and conduct during the visits. Board members are now required to:

■ provide at least 72 hours advance notice of a visit to the building principal and school chief with an email or calendar announcement confirmation;

■ notify the principal when entering the building;

■ visit schools designated to them through confirmed appointments at least once annually;

■ not make official visits more frequently than once monthly unless explicit invitation is given by the principal; and

■ direct concerns or opinions related to the educational program in school buildings to the RCSD superintendent.

The resolution passed with only Commissioner Jacqueline Griffin voting against it.

“I think the verbiage on this needs to be addressed and it shouldn’t be governed under the president because it can be a conflict of interest or bias-ness in the selection of schools that are being given to each board member,” said Griffin in the discussion before the vote. “Some people may have more time than others and I think if you haven’t been visiting your schools and you haven’t done so in the past, I don’t see why other commissioners that are able to visit schools and grow that relationship for the board collectively shouldn’t be able to do that.”

Griffin’s comments were dismissed by most other members of the board, with Vice President Beatriz LeBron implying that the resolution was developed due to an unnamed commissioner’s actions at a prior visit.

“The policy, and even how we present (ourselves) in schools, was born out of a certain commissioner’s behavior, and had we not had that issue, we would not be having this conversation tonight,” Lebron said. “Unfortunately, there were other commissioners that came out with other behaviors that this policy doesn’t address.”

Alternatives to the current system—including conducting school visits as a group, examining how other districts approach visits, or eschewing them altogether—were also discussed. They were ultimately dismissed for being inefficient or impractical concepts.

“I am open to having conversations down the line to explore what it looks like in other districts,” Commissioner Camille Simmons said. “But I will say for myself, I have concerns for going in as a unit because of the five dysfunctions of a team. One of the main dysfunctions is a false sense of harmony.

“We can’t just put on a unified front, we actually have to be unified in our actions. I don’t think our school communities deserve us going in collectively until we figure out how to execute as a commissioners’ unit,” she added.

“I am never going to present, to adults or students, a fake unity,” said LeBron. “Especially when I fundamentally disagree with penalizing our children and essentially this zero tolerance for behavior that some commissioners have toward Black and Brown kids.”

Most board members found the final point of the resolution was particularly important and stressed that during school visits, they are meant to be observers.

“I just want to remind the board that you are an advocate for the entire Rochester City School District, as a commissioner of education,” said Jamie Alicia, the district’s state monitor. “You were not elected for School No. 33 or for Edison. You have to be an advocate for all 22,000 students, all 44 buildings, all programs and services you have in the district.”

Added Alicia: “As a commissioner, you don’t have the power to go and tell people what to do in a building. You selected a superintendent, you selected a principal, and they are the ones you need to tell if there’s a problem in one of your visits.”

Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing  [email protected]. 

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