Colleagues,
The presidents of all four unions within the RCSD sent the message below to Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small and Board of Education President Van White. It calls for immediate action by the District while we continue to address the many other measures necessary to ensure greater safety at our schools.
We hope to receive a response from the Superintendent and Board President before the end of today. We will also soon communicate to you the status of the District’s response, if any, to the other proposals we’ve made aimed at making our schools safer for all.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President
Superintendent Myers-Small,
Good evening. We are still awaiting the District to act on the majority of the eleven proposals that we have submitted to you several weeks ago. Meanwhile, the safety conditions at our schools continue to deteriorate, assaults and injuries are on the rise (five teachers assaulted at Franklin Upper just last Friday), and the danger to students and school staff is rapidly increasing.
As representatives of Rochester City School District’s teachers, paraprofessionals, school administrators, and non-teaching employees, we are calling on you to immediately issue a directive that any student who engages in violence at school, and causes injury to others, be placed on remote learning and also receive the social, emotional and mental health support that they may need. This would also protect the right of all other students to learn in a safer environment and would diminish the likelihood of further injury to students and school staff.
We are convinced that such an immediate action by you is necessary now, even as we continue to develop and implement other needed measures. We urge you to issue the directive before schools reopen on Monday.
John Rowe, ASAR President
Dan DiClemente, BENTE President
Angelina Rivera, RAP President
Adam Urbanski, RTA President