ROCHESTER N.Y. — The Rochester City School District’s Board of Education held a special meeting Thursday evening, following the death of Trevyan Rowe, 14. He was a School 12 student, found in the Genesee River after a four day investigation.
Board president Van White says decisions were made during the meeting, and the public can expect changes to current policies and procedures.
“I want our staff to know that if they look at that task as perhaps insignificant could be a mistake,” White said. “It is a consequential decision to note whether a child is there or not.”
White says the district plans on re-evaluating attendance policies and procedures for students with disabilities. Those plans will be open to the public, who are also encouraged to contribute to the discussion.
At this time, White says that the three teachers who allegedly marked Trevyan present have not been fired, but through the investigation, more information can be expected on what exactly took place in the school’s attendance system when Trevyan departed campus last Thursday, March 8th.
Rochester Teachers Association Union President, Adam Urbanski, says the district should stop making accusations until the investigation starts and ends.
“I think we should refrain from making any conclusions about what happened until we have all the facts that will be brought out through these investigation, otherwise, we may end up denying the people involved the due process they deserve,” said Urbanski.
Urbanski says that the policies and the protocols that the district have been place need changing.
“In such cases like Trevyan’s, every minute could have made a difference,” Urbanski said.
Van White says that the investigation into the Trevyan Rowe matter is still in its beginning stages.
By Breon Martin | March 16, 2018
posted from: http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2018/03/16/rcsd-to-reexamine-policy-and-procedures-for-students-with-disabilities