The Rochester Board of Education approved on May 12 the Rochester City School District’s $1.16 billion budget for the 2026-27 school in a 4-3 vote.
The district’s draft budget showed funding cuts of about $3 million for district-wide counseling, psychological services and social work.
These cuts raised concerns among community members as they voiced their opinions during the district’s public budget hearing on April 21.
Since the release of the draft budget, Superintendent Eric Jay Rosser said the district has been awarded $4.9 million in grant funding — which has allowed them to continue to finalize the budget. He also said they have reinstated 15.5 social worker positions, 4.4 school counselor positions and have identified revenue that will fund 18 home hospital teachers at this time.
During the meeting on Tuesday night, Rosser described how this has been a difficult budget process.
“No responsible budget comes without hard choices. The concerns raised by our members of our board and our community as well as our students have been heard, respected and taken seriously,” Rosser said.
After an intense debate, the board adopted the budget with a 4-3 vote with Commissioners Jacqueline Griffin, Beatriz LeBron-Harris and Isaiah Santiago voting against it.
“The current concerns raised by educators, advocates and community stakeholders suggest the board should require substantially deeper operational, legal, instructional and physical analysis before final adoption. I do not agree with passing this budget,” Griffin said.
Lebron-Harris also voiced concerns about how the budget is not transparent and is not directly tied to any academic goals or achievements set forth by the board.
“The current proposal creates instability across multiple areas, reductions to social workers and support systems, changes to guidance and student services, restructuring of pre-K programs and leadership, expansion initiatives without demonstrated operational readiness, school modernization disruptions that will occur and district-wide changes that require far more phase planning than what has been presented in three weeks,” Lebron-Harris said.
Board President Camille Simmons said this has been a very challenging time frame and wants people to recognize the duty of the board of education from a lens of governance.
“One of the fundamental fiduciary duties of a school board is to adopt a budget for the purposes of a financial plan to operate the school district,” Simmons said. “I want to commend and applaud every person, who in good faith, showed up on what’s best for students, who in good faith. stood and advocated for resources and essential supports.”
The adopted budget will head to the Rochester City Council for a review.
—Kerria Weaver works as the Government and You reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on how government actions affect communities and neighborhoods in Rochester and in Monroe County.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester school board approves $1.16B budget after debate
Reporting by Kerria Weaver, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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