ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A second hearing was held Tuesday night on the sale of former Rochester City School buildings to charter schools.
Two charter schools have submitted proposals to buy former Schools 20 and 29 from the City of Rochester. Young Women’s College Prep Charter School wants School 20, and the Rochester Academy of Science seeks School 29. Representatives from both charter schools addressed the City Council’s Neighborhoods, Jobs and Housing Committee earlier Tuesday.
The Rochester City School District Board of Education is against the sale. The board released a statement Monday saying the city’s potential choice to sell these buildings to charter schools takes away students and money from RCSD.
The statement says that empty buildings stem from the district’s “right-size” strategy which served to stabilize it. Increasing charter school infrastructure while simultaneously decreasing RCSD funding is contradictory and unsustainable policy, the statement says.
News 10NBC’s Erin Mahon tried contacting members of the Board of Education today to talk more about its statement, but no one was available to speak before her deadline. She spoke to the district’s teacher union president instead, Adam Urbanski.
“I support all effective forms of education, whether they are public, private, charter or homeschooled. I think that families should have that right,” Urbanski said. “I happen to think that the best option is to strengthen public schools, so that all children will have access to good education. Charter schools take away from that because every time a child leaves public schools and goes to a charter school, the money follows them.”
While the union and board remain against the sale to charter schools, Urbanski told Mahon the union is open to converting the empty spaces into affordable housing. City Council Member Mary Lupien proposed that idea at the last public hearing.
Neighbors around School 20 told News10NBC today they’re afraid housing could bring trouble into the neighborhood. They’d like to see the building stay a school.
The RCSD started carrying out its reconfiguration plan in September 2024 due to declining enrollment. By 2023, enrollment had decreased 35% in 20 years. That’s a loss of 11,000 students.
The reconfiguration plan closed 11 schools along with five buildings. Two of those will become early childhood education centers. Many other schools consolidated with each other.
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