RCSD school board president vows stability amid superintendent departure

Rochester School Board President Cynthia Elliott Wednesday pledged to maintain the school district's forward momentum despite the surprise resignation of Superintendent Carmine Peluso, who will become the next superintendent in Churchville-Chili.

The school board likely will appoint an interim superintendent starting in July, Elliott said, and will retain a search firm to find its next permanent leader. The next permanent superintendent will be the fourth in five years.

"As we navigate this transition, I assure you that the board is fully committed to maintaining stability within the RCSD," Elliott said. "By working together, we can ensure that the best interests of our students, families, staff, and community are upheld."

Peluso has declined to give a firm reason for his departure.

"I made a decision for me — what's best for myself and my family," he said Wednesday.

Peluso informed board members and top administrators of his decision Tuesday morning, less than an hour before Churchville-Chili posted the news about his hiring on its website.

Peluso’s contract allows him to leave without penalty as long as he gives 90 days’s notice, which he did. He will remain at his position until June 30.

'A very gloomy feeling'

An hour before the press conference and a few miles away, children walked through a gray drizzle into Clara Barton School 2.

The school, first opened in 1961, has three months before it closes for good. The low-slung red brick building will become the new home for Nathaniel Hawthorn School 25 starting in the fall. It was one of a many Rochester schools impacted by Peluso's reconfiguration plan, a longtime district priority that he finally was able to complete last year.

“So he just swapped out our school, and then he left for a whole other school district?” Tameka Lester asked in disbelief. She’d just dropped off her daughter, a first-grader. “Now why would he do that?”

The feeling inside School 2 has changed since the closure was announced, Lester said. Staff seem on edge, and there are fewer parents around.

“You can tell everyone’s not happy about leaving,” she said. “It’s a very gloomy feeling.”

Did board member tension play a role in RCSD superintendent departure?

Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski referred pointedly Wednesday to “interference and harassment” by two particular board members as a major contributing factor to Peluso’s departure — a comment that Peluso himself declined to address.

"If you have to endure additional stress in a job that’s already stressful, you have to consider what your options are,” Urbanski said. “I actually hold a lot of respect for people who won’t just calmly take it.”

The two board members in question are James Patterson, who joined the board in January 2022, and Jacqueline Griffin, who joined this January.

Their approach to the job has set them at odds with central office administrators and the rest of the board, according to conversations with multiple people, and Patterson has clashed publicly with Board Vice President Beatriz LeBron during meetings.

From the perspective of district veterans, Patterson and Griffin have been harrying and disrespectful of protocol, including reaching out to school staff directly and demanding access to student records.

Patterson countered rather that he is simply “willing to tackle issues and expose things that are being done improperly.”

“I don’t think in any way, shape or form that I had anything to do with pushing (Peluso) out,” he said. “As a commissioner I’m very honest and transparent relative to issues dealing with race, justice and fairness to everyone. … I think everyone should be able to work without being in fear. This administration leads by intimidation and fear, and I don’t think any employee should have to work under these conditions.”

Nonetheless, he said he was saddened to see Peluso go and didn’t believe the district would be better off without him.

Griffin declined to comment. Elliott described the current tension as part of a natural adjustment period that the board would work through.

“We have some new board members, (and) you have to adjust from being a passionate community advocate to a person who governs,” she said. “That takes time to transition. … You go through storming and norming, normalizing, and then performing. That’s just a natural part of it.”

A unique departure

Superintendent departures are nothing new in Rochester, but Peluso’s marks a first in some respects. Since the district was founded in 1841, no other superintendent has left to lead another Monroe County school district.

He will earn $245,000 annually in Churchville-Chili, the district confirmed Wednesday, $10,000 less than he makes in Rochester.

In the last 15 years or so, superintendents have left only after their relationships with the school board or unions soured. Peluso, by contrast, had strong support from a majority of board members throughout his tenure. He also saw less administrative turnover than many of his predecessors and faced no major public controversies.

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The closest comparison is with Terry Dade. He also left early in his contract and in the middle of budget season to go to a much smaller district.

Dade, though, had been dealt a remarkably poor hand: first an enormous mid-year budget crisis that came to light within months of his hire, and second, the COVID-19 pandemic. Peluso by contrast successfully managed first major challenge he was assigned, the reconfiguration and closure of schools.

"I feel like I'm losing a friend," Elliott said. "We worked together so well and we were doing great work together."

— Justin Murphy is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York." Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CitizenMurphy or contact him at jmurphy7@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: RCSD school board president vows stability amid Carmine Peluso departure