Rochester’s School Board President says the suddenly announced departure of Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams won’t stop upward movement the district has been making in recent years.
White would not directly say whether he thought Deane-Williams should have left or not; he says that’s something teachers or parents can comment on.
But White did take time to point out some positives under Deane-Williams in her two-and-a-half years in that position, particularly when it comes to fostering equity and diversity in the school district.
“Her focus on infusion of culturally sensitive and appropriate material for our children, I’m happy about that. I also would note that Barbara Deane-Williams, her cabinet looked more like Rochester; I think that’s a positive thing.
White made his comments at School number 46 in the Browncroft neighborhood, and he made his statement with charts on easels behind him, showing what he says is mainly steady, but incremental progress in raising academic standards in the city school district. And White says that has happened under several different superintendents, so he tried to make the point that there are many factors other than the superintendent that are behind improvements in the district.
“This is no time to leave our children. Just because we’ve lost one person, that person is not Wonder Woman, that person is not Superman. The leaders of this district are in this building and in the homes of the children that come to this building."
White says the district will need to hire an interim superintendent while it begins the search process for a permanent leader. Deane-Williams says she will retire from the district by the end of January.
Rochester School board member Natalie Sheppard says that Barbara Deane-Williams did have some successes during her time as superintendent, particularly as it relates to dealing with structural racism in the district.
But Sheppard does feel the next superintendent will need to be around for a while to help see various initiatives achieve success.
“We need somebody that’s going to be invested to say, I know I’m coming into something that’s going to be very, very difficult, but they have to believe that our students are worth it and that our students can achieve that. So we’re going to need somebody that’s going to be strong and bold enough to come in and say, ok, we’re starting at this level, but we’re going to push it up.”
Sheppard also wants to see better accountability for everyone who works in the school district.
School Board member Beatriz LeBron was more critical of the superintendent, saying that in her opinion, Deane-Williams' stepping down is the right move.
"I think it's the right decision, I think she's not a good fit for this district, and I think the next big challenge is insuring that the board has an open, transparent process with the selection of the next superintendent."
LeBron said ”There are some deeply engraved, systematic changes that need to happen, and that cannot happen when you have a superintendent that is not aligned with the values of a board.”
