East-UR partnership to end in 2025 after Rochester school board vote

East High School will lose its distinct status within the Rochester City School District a year from now after the school board voted Thursday not to extend its partnership with the University of Rochester.

Amy Maloy and Isaiah Santiago joined Cynthia Elliott and Beatriz LeBron, both longtime skeptics of the arrangement, to carry the vote.

Elliott, the board president and the only current commissioner who was present at the outset of the agreement, said she now thinks that initial vote was a mistake.

"When you look at other schools that are doing very well in our district — it did not need that kind of money in it," she said. "How does East get that money and other schools do not? It was just unfair."

Support for extending the university deal with East High

James Patterson, Jacqueline Griffin and Camille Simmons voted to extend the partnership.

"The fiscal responsibility is a lot, but the collateral for our children is even more," Simmons said.

East Superintendent Marlene Blocker expressed disappointment but promised to help transition East back into the district.

"Having the autonomy at East … has truly enabled us to overcome barriers (such as) RCSD turbulence, continuous turnover and numerous failed reforms," she said. "I pray, after giving eight and half years of my life … that the RCSD ripples that impeded progress before the EPO took over do not suddenly surface as huge waves that crash the positive course we have taken and the UR has helped charter."

Isaiah Santiago recommended creating a committee of current and former East students, parents and educators to guide the board and district in bringing the school back into the district structure.

LeBron promised not to revoke East's autonomy immediately. It is likely the school board, district and UR will agree on a new contract laying out fiscal and operational terms for the next few years.

10-year partnership with UR

The educational partnership organization agreement was formed in 2014 and extended for another five years in 2019. It is a contract between UR and the Rochester school board, with the state Education Department as an unofficial but significant third party.

Under the EPO, East has a separate leadership structure and significant technical assistance (but no money) from UR. It uses greater-than-typical funding from RCSD for important elements of its model, most notably an additional hour in the school day.

There has been no question the EPO is in its last years. The question before the board for the last two months has been whether to let it lapse in June 2025, as scheduled, or to extend it for three years beyond that.

That additional time, East supporters argued, would let this year's ninth-grade class graduate under the current arrangement and would allow time for an orderly reabsorption of the school into the overall district structure.

Superintendent Carmine Peluso responded that there's enough time to plan the transition and pledged to leave important elements of the EPO in place for at least a few years. His recently announced move to Churchville-Chili, though, means he won't be participating.

The academic progress at East has been undeniable but also incomplete. The four-year graduation rate increased from 33% to 78% and the suspension rate has been slashed.

Both the lower and upper schools, however, remain in state receivership. Chronic absenteeism is still high and progress has proven more difficult in some subject areas than others.

Community calls for EPO extension

UR President Sarah Mangelsdorf and Warner School of Education Dean Sarah Peyre wrote to the school board Wednesday, calling the EPO "one of the best decisions we have made" and requesting a three-year extension.

"We have been moved by the outpouring of support for East and have heard loud and clear that an extension of the EPO is necessary while the District begins future planning for East," they wrote. "There needs to be the same level of intentionality and respect for stakeholders with the transition as there was with the formation of the EPO."

Scores of parents, teachers and neighbors have urged the district to extend the agreement. So did the Parent Leadership Advisory Council, which noted that Peluso's departure will make it more difficult to transition the school back.

More: RCSD school board president vows stability amid superintendent departure

"Leave East alone for now," James Patterson said, drawing cheers. "We cannot get this wrong, and I think we’re just throwing the dice if we fold it back into the district."

Cynthia Elliott said the advances at East shouldn't stall as long as the educators there care enough about their students.

"I know the work at East is going to continue – if you love our children," she said. "Whether we have an EPO or not, if people love our children, that work is going to continue."

— Justin Murphy is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York." Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CitizenMurphy or contact him at jmurphy7@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: East-UR partnership to end in 2025 after Rochester school board vote