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The Rochester City School District this week approved two contracts with the Rochester Police Department, one for officers to be posted at high school campus parking lots during arrival and dismissal times and the other at special events such as sporting matches.
The contract renewals, which failed to pass at a July board meeting in 3-4 votes, were approved this time, with several board commissioners switching their votes. During the meetings this week and last month, commissioners spoke about the need to balance public safety, overpolicing, costs, and efficiency with these efforts.
The contract for police presence at certain high schools during arrival and dismissal passed in a 4-3 vote. However, the contract is only for six months—from Sept. 8 to March 8—instead of the entire year.
This was a change commissioner Heather Feinman requested at the July meeting. This week, she joined board president Camille Simmons, vice president Amy Maloy, and commissioner Kareem Ba McCullough in voting to approve the contracr. Commissioners Isaiah Santiago, Beatriz LeBron-Harris, and Jacqueline Griffin voted no.
“We do feel that within a six-month span we will be able to bring multiple additional (public safety) options to the options that were already presented at the last week board meeting,” said RCSD superintendent Eric Rosser, explaining the timing change.
He mentioned there is a contract provision that allows the district to extend it, if circumstances change. Rosser said he intends to give the board plenty of deliberation time in such a scenario, however.
The superintendent reiterated that RPD has no jurisdiction within schools and will respond to events only when called on by building administration.
The cost of the contract for officers at arrival and dismissal times is $521,280, based on the RPD overtime pay scale.
The contract for sporting events remains the same as before; it will cost $100,000 and covers the period from Sept. 1, 2026, to June 26, 2027, the final day of the school year. This contract passed in a 5-2 vote, with both Feinman and Santiago switching from their votes in the July meeting. Santiago had made that intention clear before the August meeting, saying sporting events include more than just the school community, making extra help necessary.
Based on board input, Rosser said he is dedicated to providing alternative public safety options in the coming months. These will likely be establishing or expanding relationships with community-based organizations such as Pathways to Peace and 585 SNUG.
Other commissioners also mentioned the role played by school safety officers and their requests for support. The unarmed SSOs in 2021 replaced armed RPD officers—known as school resource officers or SROs—who were present in city schools for more than two decades.
“I would definitely love to see our SSOs get the proper equipment that they need and see how we can beef them up and also partner with our community organizations,” Santiago said.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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Now….was that so difficult?
Josh, it was EASY, not difficult, but RCSB made it seem hard.
Again, let me suggest the “EASY” button approach, from Staples stores, for only $10.
What if Dr. Rosser had an “EASY” button that said, “That was easy” when you press it.
And what if members of the School Board, principals, and teachers had EASY buttons, too?
Of course, easy steps, will not solve all problems at RCSD, but why not give it a try, NOW?
“Now…was that so difficult?” Thank you, Josh!
Good news for Superintendent Rosser.
NOW please focus on improving educational outcomes for the parents & students YOU are accountable to. Since The Beacon has your attention, I would hope YOU, Superintendent Rosser, can provide your plan to dramatically improve educational outcomes.
Here’s a thought to start your brainstorming = since only 2 RCSD schools meet or exceed the average NYS testing scores for Math & ELA, what is your approach to increase the number of a schools AND what YOUR GOAL for 2026-2027 school year for RCSD schools to meet or exceed the average NYS testing scores for Math & ELA.
Thank you for providing a response.
Howie, here is the bad, sad and factual outcome for the coming year. Years for that matter. Nothing is going to change for the better. (unless the bar is lowered) If you do the same thing over and expecting or hoping for improvement…things will simply never change. Until the powers to be change course, until they show kids professions, careers and vocations, they will continue to bore those kids with academics. That’s because kids cannot connect those boring academics with opportunities, those many opportunities. The number one response from school dropouts is, what do I need this s— for anyway?!. They need to teach the way kids learn. Think about that. That requires creativity, ingenuity, etc. Bad English….but they aint got it. The very first thing that ought to be addressed is Adam Urbanski who has a record of failure. Those kids, over his time spent in the RCSD, made him a millionaire. He talks the talk but cannot walk the walk. There are other issues that need to be addressed, but let’s begin with a retirement party for the worst educational educator in the history of the RCSD. One step at a time but take that step.