A reshaped RCSD board race

The race for three seats on the Rochester City School District Board looks strikingly different today than it did just a month ago.

Instead of a seven-candidate contest in the June 24 Democratic primary, the number has fallen to four: current RCSD board president Camille Simmons, and board hopefuls Kareem-Ba McCullough, Vince Felder, and Heather Feinman.

Board member Cynthia Elliott, who has 20 years of experience as a commissioner, did not file a petition to run after previously indicating she would. The paperwork for incumbent James Patterson and newcomer Trenton Jackson Jr. was reviewed and rejected by the Monroe County Board of Elections, which said both candidates fell short of the required number of valid signatures.

Over the last three decades, success in the Democratic primary election for city school board commissioner has become a de facto guarantee of general election victory. Since 1995, no one other than Democrats has ever been elected to the board.

Whoever is elected to the position will face the challenges of a large urban district that spans 46 schools and has more than 22,000 students. The checklist includes a new superintendent, overseeing capital improvement projects, rightsizing staff, realigning middle schools, transitioning East High back to district control, and reacting to changes made at the federal level.

Importance of a primary

Though dominated by one party, RCSD board races typically are competitive. Over the past three decades, an average of seven candidates have vied for three to four seats, depending on the election cycle.

One possible reason why: Unlike most school districts in New York, which have unpaid boards, RCSD board salaries range from $26,000 to $34,000.

Multiple Republican candidates in the past have sought election, but none successfully. From 2001 to 2007, there were at least three candidates fronted by the GOP, with the best performance garnering half the votes of the last Democratic winner (10,000 for Ivan Ramos compared with 21,000 for Willa Powell).

Third-party or write-in ballot candidates also have fallen short.

Thomas Brennan, who won a board seat in 2005, missed out on a Democratic primary win in 2009. He attempted a write-in campaign in that year’s general election and received just over 1,200 votes, 500 fewer than the Libertarian candidate.

In 2017, Beatriz Lebron-Harris was a loser in the Democratic primary. She mounted a general election campaign, running with the backing of the Working Families and Independence parties. Her 6,600-vote total on those party lines was well shy of the totals of the victors, all of whom ran on the Democratic line and received at least 16,000 votes.

In the 2019 Democratic primary, Lebron-Harris handily won a spot and in fact received the most votes of any candidate.

This year’s candidates

Of the four candidates running in Democratic primary next month, Simmons is the only incumbent. She was first elected to the board in 2021, winning the most votes of any RCSD candidate in the general election that year.

Simmons was elected board president in January, succeeding Elliott, who had served as president or vice president since 2014.

During her short tenure as president, the board has strengthened student information safeguards after fears surrounding immigration and customs enforcement were raised, voted to confirm Eric Rosser as the new RCSD superintendent, and approved a $1.1 billion budget. Simmons says she knows the district faces more challenges.

“Although we have seen an increase in state aid, we must continue to assess our financial and structural landscape, as declining student enrollment, staff turnover, and leadership changes have contributed to a lack of stability, making it difficult to sustain a clear path toward progress,” she says.

If reelected, Simmons wants to focus her energy on literacy acquisition, mental health services, financial stability, and parental engagement.

She hopes that incoming commissioners will be willing to work together respectfully and collaboratively toward those goals.

“New board members who join with an open mind, committed to putting students first, learning the landscape, and supporting the needs of the district, can bring fresh energy and valuable perspectives,” she says. “Embracing new ideas and approaches is essential to driving progress.”

McCullough has appeared alongside the president on social media posts and in election signage. A Rochester native, he has been both a teacher and principal internationally and at the Rochester Academy Charter School.

Most recently, he has worked in youth workforce development, with a variety of programs based at the Edgerton recreation center on the city’s westside. McCullough says that his background in education, as well as his positive experience with the Rochester school system, prompted him to run for commissioner.

“I believe every Rochester student deserves access to a school that works for them. My decision is rooted in my experience as an educator, leader, and community advocate who has seen firsthand the impact of strong governance on student success from when I was a student in RCSD,” McCullough says. “I’m committed to ensuring the board becomes a more responsive, transparent, and strategic partner in student outcomes.”

This is Felder’s second bid for a school board seat. In 2023, he finished in last place in the seven-person Democratic primary. He attributes this poor performance to a late start in the campaign, and is much more confident in his current effort.

Felder has a background in local politics; he was elected as District 22 county legislator in 2014. He advanced to become minority leader for the Democrats but was ousted in 2020. Felder often voted with the Black and Asian Caucus, a splinter group of Democrats that allied with Republicans on some issues.

He lost to Mercedes Vasquez-Simmons in his 2021 reelection bid, but Felder continued to serve as a special assistant to county Legislature president Sabrina LaMar, a member of the Black and Asian Caucus.

In his bid to join the school board, Felder points to accomplishments such as the Rochester airport name change and passage of Gantt’s Law in support of minority and women-owned businesses.

“I have a history of not just saying, ‘There’s an issue here,’ but actually working to get it done,” Felder says. “It’s not good to be talking about the same issues all the time, year after year. That means something is going on where you can’t solve the problem.”

Feinman, the fourth candidate in the Democratic primary, is a parent of three RCSD children who is active in the realm of social justice. She points to her experience as a Parent Leadership Training Institute alum and 2023 Parent Advocate Award recipient from Healthi Kids as strengths she could bring to the board.

Some of Feinman’s main focus areas are to support and expand language access for deaf and limited English proficient children, community school services, LGBTQIA+ student rights, enhanced recess and play, and mental health services.

Though ruled off the primary ballot, Patterson has previously said he is considering an independent run for reelection. Neither he nor Jackson responded to the Beacon’s requests for comment.

Patterson was first elected in 2021, beating former county legislator Joshua Bauroth for the final spot in the primary race that year. He has been critical of the status quo during his time as commissioner, pushing for budgetary audits and for the district to compete with charter schools.

In February, he clashed with fellow board commissioner Isaiah Santiago in a shouting match seemingly fueled by personal animosity. The incident made headlines after Patterson claimed racial slurs were used and submitted a request for Santiago’s removal. Since then, the board voted to pay for Santiago’s legal fees in the matter.

“You don’t hear stories about the Brighton board fighting each other. I’m sure they have arguments behind closed doors,” remarks Felder. “The main thing is, the board should never be the story. The story should be about the kids.”

Jackson is the son of Trent Jackson, an Olympic track star and NFL player who returned to Rochester to coach high school after his athletic career.

Jackson Jr. first brought up his possible candidacy in April 2024 after lodging a complaint at a public board meeting over the renaming of Franklin High School. Jackson wanted the school to be named after his father, but the board chose to name it Padilla High School instead.

Key issues

Among those running, similar answers arose when speaking about their top areas of concern. Improving literacy rates is one example.

“Literacy is the foundation of all learning and is intricately woven throughout every subject area,” Simmons says, adding that acquisition by the third grade serves as a predictor for graduation.

While changes to state testing and interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it more difficult to track literacy proficiency, English Language Arts assessment results are currently hovering around 15 percent proficiency for the district.

This marks an improvement from the 2017-18 school year, when new assessments were instituted; at that time, only 8 percent of RCSD students tested as proficient. The share of students scoring in the lowest category has declined slightly, from 68 percent at Level 1 in 2017-18, to 63 percent in 2023-24).

Literacy is already a focus for the board, with two goals dedicated to that effort: improving ELA proficiency from 16 to 40 percent for all students and from 15 to 50 percent for third graders by June 2028.

Vicma Ramos, the district’s interim chief academic officer, has also highlighted the rollout of literacy programs, an ongoing process in the district, saying that requires time to be done right. There is a pilot process and then a gradual introduction to schools and teachers through a cohort model, which creates maximum effectiveness. Felder believes that more can be done.

“We need to not just be utilizing the resources in the district, but utilizing external resources,” he says, “making it a priority in our libraries, our rec centers, getting our churches and other nonprofits involved. We need to emphasize reading and teach children at an early level, not just to read, but to love to read.”

In addition, candidates are concerned about graduation rates. They have nuanced views of what the future can hold for RCSD students.

“Increased graduation rates should not be the core of the goal, but a genuine focus on post-secondary preparedness is essential,” Simmons says. “Our students should be prepared to compete on the world stage.”

McCullough agrees and says expanding alternative pathways, such as workforce development or job training while in high school, could be an effective strategy. Career and technical education has been a growing part of RCSD’s offerings in recent years, with CTE programs set to be offered soon in every school.

All four candidates also agree that accountability is important for commissioners and necessary to improve the performance of the board. Felder thinks the code of conduct should come with repercussions for violations.

“As the governing body, we must also embrace systems of accountability at the board level,” says Simmons. “By doing so, we demonstrate our commitment, not only to our students and educators, but to the community that elected us, by leading with integrity and a collective will to put student outcomes above all else. They deserve our respect.”

Other top challenges mentioned include accessing mental health services, chronic absenteeism, and parental engagement, all of which are linked, McCullough points out.

“These issues are compounded by resource disparities and fragmented support services across schools,” he says, stressing the need for student-centered outcomes.

“This work isn’t easy, but it is necessary,” says Simmons. “And it will be well worth it when we see our children succeed.”

Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.

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