Incoming RCSD Superintendent 'ecstatic' about community support

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)- The incoming school superintendent for the Rochester City School District, Dr. Eric Rosser says he's 'ecstatic' about partnering with the community on ensuring students succeed.
He says the turnout at the Community Conversations hosted by the district has shown him how vested community organizations and individuals are about ensuring children in Rochester have what they need.
Rosser answered a host of questions from students, teachers, parents, and community members at Dr. Freddie Thomas Middle School on Tuesday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Participants expressed enthusiasm about the work Dr. Rosser did as superintendent in Poughkeepsie, but pointed out that many superintendents of urban school districts leave after 3 to 5 years. Rosser pointed to his 6 years in Poughkeepsie and encouraged folks to do their homework about his track record as an educator in Buffalo, Atlanta, and other cities.
'Revamp & reimagination': Incoming RCSD superintendent hears concerns from parents
When asked what he would need to stay 5 to 10 years in Rochester, he pointed to community support.
'While the super does have super in his name, we are not superheroes. It's important we come together to support what we believe our vision for the children in our community to be.' Rosser said.
He answered a host of other questions related to academic achievement, funding cuts, continuous changes and revisions in the district, professional development for teachers, and creating a safe environment for students.
Rosser listened to concerns and community expectations. He took notes and pledged to serve as chief ambassador and advocate for the district.
The third Community Conversation will be held Saturday, June 14 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Jefferson Campus. Rosser officially begins as RCSD Superintendent July 1.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

4 days ago

• Yahoo

Rochester school board primary: Meet the 4 candidates running for 3 seats

Voters in Rochester will have their pick between new contenders and familiar faces as they head to the polls for this month's Democratic primary, where four candidates are running for three seats on the city school board. This year's ballot features one incumbent ― current board president Camille Simmons, and three hopeful candidates: Heather Feinman, Vince Felder and Kareem McCullough. The Democratic primary generally serves to determine the winner of the November general election in heavily Democratic Rochester. Those elected will join efforts to promote stability in the district after a reconfiguration of schools and significant turnover in key leadership positions. The new members will come on board shortly after incoming superintendent, Eric J. Rosser, who is the district's fourth superintendent since 2020. Below are the four candidates for school board, in alphabetical order. Feinman is a first-time candidate and describes herself as a "boots-on-the-ground advocate" in Rochester. The Rochester mother has three children currently enrolled in RCSD and raised four others in the district. All seven had special educational needs. "I've spent years advocating for my own kids and for other families navigating a system that can often feel overwhelming," Feinman said. "... When I've faced barriers, I've fought to find solutions. I'm running because I want to be part of building a system that listens, responds, and works for every child." Feinman is heavily involved in the Rochester and school community. Some examples: She's served as president of a Parent Teacher Association at two schools (and volunteers with others), leads a Cub Scout Pack, volunteers with the League of Future Voters, graduated from the Parent Leadership Training Institute, and works with the Greater Rochester Health Foundation and Healthi Kids to push for policy changes. If elected, Feinman said she wants to "bring parent voice back into the process." "Our children and families are hurting," she said. "I want to uplift families and connect schools with community resources so that children are able to dream big." Her priorities include supporting mental health and trauma-informed care, strengthening community partnerships, advocating for LGBTQIA+ students and those with disabilities or other language needs, and investing in academic intervention, early literacy, after-school programs and policies that center equity. This is Felder's second bid at a school board seat after he fell short in the 2023 primary. Felder's political background includes six years in the Monroe County Legislature. He sponsored legislation that changed the name of Rochester's airport to honor Frederick Douglass and also has four years under his belt as the executive director of a child care center. If elected, Felder said early literacy is his top priority. "By the third grade, children should transition from learning to read to reading to learn," Felder said. "Children who read on grade level by the third grade have a much higher chance of graduating and going to college. Conversely, children who do not read proficiently by this age are more likely to drop out, be undereducated, and face a higher risk of incarceration. We must offer our children a brighter future." Felder said he is also focused on increasing community partnership. That would start by reorganizing the Office of Parent Engagement and Office of Family and Community Engagement into one department. Felder said he would like to see the board develop innovative programs to increase parent engagement, which he believes will help with attendance and student performance in the district. McCullough is a first-time candidate but no stranger to RCSD. The Rochester native graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School and started his 20-year career in public education in the district. From there, he served as a teacher, special education coordinator and school administrator in different settings across the U.S., Abu Dhabi and China. He has a master's degree in teaching and leadership and is pursuing a doctorate in organizational leadership. "My work includes developing inclusive curricula, leading school reform efforts, and launching youth programs focused on mental health and violence prevention," McCullough said. "These experiences have prepared me to make informed, student-centered decisions and the ability to bring a collaborative, equity-driven leadership approach to the Rochester Board of Education." If elected, McCullough said his first priority will be addressing the district's high absenteeism rate. He called on the board to identify root causes and implement solutions that support student engagement. McCullough said RCSD should offer "alternative educational pathways" that reflect the diversity of its student body and their needs, talents and circumstances. The educator said he would also push the board to improve community engagement and set clear metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of certain programs and policies. "We must also move away from one-size-fits-all approaches ...," McCullough said. "Every young person deserves access to meaningful, relevant learning experiences that prepare them for life beyond the classroom." Simmons was first elected to the school board in 2021 and, in January, was selected by her peers to serve as board president. She is a Rochester native, an RCSD graduate and the parent of a graduate from the district. Simmons began her career as a youth advocate in city high schools and currently serves as the executive director of the local nonprofit, Leadership Rochester. "My lifelong commitment to this community ― combined with my background in social work, executive leadership experience, and passion for equitable education ― uniquely positions me to serve effectively on the school board," Simmons said. "I am ready to bridge experience, vision, and service to strengthen outcomes for all students." Since joining the board, Simmons said her focus has been on early literacy. If reelected, Simmons said she would advocate for "local accountability dashboards" to measure key factors that families and educators value, including school safety, mental health support, access to the arts and student voice. "Education should not only lead to graduation, but also develop free, independent thinkers ― students who are prepared for both college and career," she said. "... As a school board member, I would work toward shifting the focus of school accountability from test scores alone to a more holistic, community-centered model. This means incorporating indicators such as student well-being, family engagement, school climate, and culturally responsive teaching into how we measure school success." Early voting for the primary election will start June 14 through June 22. Hours vary by polling site. You can look up where you are registered to vote, and which polling place to attend, at Voters can also head to the polls on Election Day ― Tuesday, June 24. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The unofficial results from the primary election will be available after 9 p.m. on June 24 at and — Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Get in touch at kcanne@ This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester school board primary election 2025: Candidates

Fox News

5 days ago

• Fox News

Students left behind?: San Francisco tried to bury this radical school policy

While San Francisco's recently halted equity grading scheme sparked national uproar and derision, the real lesson of this fiasco is the near-total lack of transparency in the school district's education decision-making process. Equity grading, which has been adopted by school districts across the country, is basically grade inflation dressed up in social-justice rhetoric. Under San Francisco's version of equity grading, homework and most tests, outside of the final exam, would not count toward a student's final grade. Students would be able to take the final exam multiple times. Further, students could turn in assignments late and not be marked down. Also, according to the publication The Voice of San Francisco, which broke the story on the district administration's equity grading plan, "Currently, a student needs a 90 for an A and at least 61 for a D," but the district envisions "a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A" and would give "a passing C grade to as low as a score of 41 on a 100-point exam." The key problem with equity grading is that it inflates grades but does not increase learning. Making it easier to get high grades disincentivizes students from putting in the effort to learn the subject matter. In New York City, where equity grading was instituted, high school math teacher Janessa Tamayo said that fewer students did their homework, fewer participated in class, and many stopped taking tests seriously. For most kids, warned Tamayo, equity grading "encouraged them to do the minimum." It is little wonder then that there is no evidence that equity grading improves student performance on standardized tests, despite inflated grades. The outcry from across the political spectrum was brutal, with Northern California Democrat and Republican members of Congress and the Democratic mayor of San Francisco slamming the plan. All this backlash caused San Francisco school district superintendent Maria Su to retreat and pause adoption of the pilot equity grading plan for a year. The dumbing-down element of equity grading, however, is just half of the story. The other half is even more ominous. The rollout of the scheme was designed to fly under the radar and thereby eliminate democratic scrutiny and debate. According to The Voice of San Francisco, reference to the plan was "buried in a three-word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meeting's 25-page agenda." The idea was to implement the plan, "[w]ithout seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education," with outreach to parents being "minimal" or "nonexistent." The publication found, "The school district's Office of Equity homepage does not mention [the equity grading plan] and a page containing the SFUSD definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years." In other words, the goal was to keep the public ignorant. After the plan was exposed, Su acknowledged the district's lack of transparency, saying, "I have decided to not pursue this strategy for next year to ensure we have time to meaningfully engage the community." Further, she wanted to focus on, among other things, "rebuilding trust." Rebuilding trust became a goal only because the initial goal to deceive failed. The bottom line is that unelected bureaucrats tried to implement a controversial policy without any meaningful input from parents and even school board members. The goal was to hand the public a fait accompli that families in the district would have to accept. As one former teacher observed, "the lack of transparency in public education has eroded public trust in schools." The San Francisco equity grading implosion is therefore both an academic disaster and, even more importantly, an arrogant insult to the democratic process. Not only should equity grading be discarded permanently, education policymaking in San Francisco and throughout the country must become more transparent if parents are to have real influence over the education of their children.

Yahoo

14-06-2025

• Yahoo

New pedestrian bridge connects SUNY Brockport over Erie Canal

BROCKPORT, N.Y. (WROC) — NYS Canal Corporation and Brockport officials cut the ribbon of the new pedestrian bridge over the Erie Canal on Friday. The new bridge, which was announced during the COVID-19 pandemic, officially began construction in 2023. The opening of the bridge commemorates the bicentennial anniversary of the Erie Canal. The bridge connects from the SUNY Brockport campus, goes over the Erie Canal, and travels to the Empire State Trail and the Village of Brockport. The walkway will now provide attendees of various boating events for the season a viewing platform and serve as an addition to the recently built kayak dock and boathouse nearby. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.