Mayor Richards reacts to low graduation rate

Posted at: 06/15/2012 4:32 PM
By: Ray Levato | WHEC.com

News 10NBC Friday was finally able to gauge reaction from Rochester Mayor Tom Richards regarding the city school district's 49 percent average graduation rate for 2011 announced earlier this week.

The following is an e-mail from the mayor forwarded from City Hall.

"The graduation rate information is not sufficiently different from the past to change the general assessment of the District. I agree with the Superintendent's statement that it is unacceptable. I believe that the decisions with respect to school closings have been in place for some time. I do not believe that it is helpful for me to comment on them or similar individual decisions."

Supt. Bolgen Vargas announced he plans to close four city high school schools which are under-performing and re-open new schools in their place.

Those schools are: Dr. Freddie Thomas, Jefferson, Franklin International Finance and Franklin Bioscience.

Also, the Mayor used his State of the City address April 30th to discuss this topic.

"We (should) pick some fundamental programs and approaches and stick to them. I question quite frankly how helpful it is that we try to push on the school system a constant barrage of the newest ideas and programs. Dependability and stability trump the theoretical optimum."  

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