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Rochester City School District work session, date not confirmed yet

3 h 04 min · 0 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 3 h 04 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Rochester school board hears updates on pre-K, summer learning and grants 33:26

  • The board discussed its 2027 legislative priorities, and the board president said the topic would return at the next work session. 5:13
  • District staff presented updates on pre-K enrollment and curriculum, summer learning 2026 and the annual grants report. 34:27
  • The board moved resolutions 242 through 311 to the consent agenda, except 242, 244, 246 and 253, and the chair announced the motion carried. 1:57:22
  • The board also approved moving resolutions 312 through 322 and amendments, and the meeting was adjourned to executive session. 3:01:27
Item by item (10)
  1. Opening and agenda 1:01
    • The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM, and a motion to approve the work session agenda was made and seconded. 1:01
    • The board president noted that the question log was available on BoardDocs and would be discussed further on Thursday. 1:42
  2. Student policies review 2:36
    • The clerk presented policies 5430, 5500 and 5600, saying Policy 5500 updated language from homeless students to students in temporary housing and from native to home language. 2:36
    • The clerk said the goal was for the policies to start readings and be voted on at the December business meeting. 4:47
    • The board president announced that policies 5430, 5500 and 5600 would go forward to first readings. 5:13
  3. Legislative priorities discussion 5:13
    • A commissioner said pre-K transportation was on the 2026 legislative priorities and should be included on the board's legislative priorities. 6:01
    • A speaker asked when the board would get actual bill numbers, and another speaker said the objective was December if possible, with actual passing probably around January. 21:29
    • The state monitor said the Portrait of a Graduate item should be titled for implementation of New York State Inspires, a pre-K-12 initiative. 32:32
    • A speaker said the legislative priorities would be placed on the next work session to be revisited. 33:26
  4. Pre-K programming update 33:26
    • A presenter said the district serves 2,412 pre-K children, 164 students below last year's comparable snapshot. 37:09
    • The presenter said 98% of teachers completed curriculum training before the first day of school. 41:48
    • The superintendent said the state would now reimburse districts for pre-K students based on one BEDS date, and described a cap of $8 million for pre-K that depends on enrollment. 48:33
  5. Summer learning 2026 review 1:13:33
    • A presenter said summer programming was restructured from 35 separate programs in 2025 to 15 programs in 2026, and overall attendance rose from 71% to 77%. 1:13:47
    • The presenter said 134 seniors completed final requirements and celebrated diplomas at the August graduation ceremony. 1:21:07
    • A commissioner asked for a chart comparing last year's summer school outcomes with this year's. 1:32:21
  6. Consent agenda resolutions review 1:35:42
    • A commissioner recommended that resolutions over $200,000 to $400,000 be placed in the regular resolution pool instead of the consent agenda. 1:39:32
    • The same commissioner asked that resolutions 242, 244 and 253 be removed from the consent agenda, citing amounts of $220,000, $425,000 and $423,000. 1:49:20
    • The board moved resolutions 242 through 311 to the consent agenda, excluding 242, 244, 246 and 253, and the chair announced the motion carried. 1:57:22
  7. Budget book and budget calendar 1:58:29
    • The superintendent said a budget survey would be released on November 2nd and that a budget task force had begun meeting. 2:08:53
    • The superintendent said the district would provide a preliminary balanced budget to the state monitor on March 1st and that the board would vote on the budget in May. 2:15:17
    • A commissioner said there were not enough community budget forums, and the superintendent committed to additional forums. 2:18:33
  8. Annual grants presentation 2:33:53
    • A presenter said that for every $100,000 of grant funds awarded in 2025⁠-⁠26, only $6,663 was left unspent. 2:34:25
    • The presenter said the district administered 77 grants totaling $138 million and that the current total is approximately $141 million. 2:37:37
    • The presenter said a contract with a federal grant development firm would be brought to the board at the November meeting. 2:39:26
  9. Administrative resolutions and amendments 2:56:10
    • A speaker said the lease was changing because of a change in ownership and that the facility agreement needed to reflect the new ownership. 3:00:48
    • The chair announced the motion carried for resolutions 312 through 322 and the amendments for 663, 173 and 218. 3:01:27
  10. Written reports and executive session 3:02:08
    • A speaker said the meeting would adjourn to executive session. 3:03:15

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

I don't think there's enough community forums and community conversations. Knowing that next year there are gonna be a lot of cuts, I do believe that there's a way that these cuts can be implemented without a contentious relationship between the community, our teachers, our schools, and us.Isaiah Santiago · Commissioner2:18:33
Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Board Work Session | October 27, 2026”