Our News: RCSD Story

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written by Melanie Johnson

ROCHESTER — Leondra Johnson has two children enrolled in the Rochester City School District. She is one of many who is advocating for change in city schools.

“Get people in here who actually care about the kids and who actually care about their job and who wants to make a difference,” said RCSD parent, Leondra Johnson.

Fifty schools and more than 25,000 students make up the district. RCSD is calling on parents to get involved in their Path Forward campaign to improve city schools.

“A lack of education is the biggest threat to human kind period,” said Johnson.

Path Forward has already conducted a series of meetings with teachers, staff, and parents in their attempt to transform the district. Leondra Johnson spoke on behalf of many parents as she expressed her frustrations during a community meeting held at the Douglas Recreation Center.

“There should`t be a lack of resources when the city school district is getting hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Johnson.

The district`s 800 million dollar budget was among the grievances listed on October 26th. Other issues included improving low test scores, enhancing safety and the connection between teachers and students.

“I won`t make the teachers take all the blame or the district. I definitely believe about half of the problems are due to a lack of parent involvement,” said Johnson.

School leaders will present the ideas from these community meetings to the Board of Education this winter.