Rochester School Board and Superintendent working on ‘separation agreement’

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Halfway through her four-year contract, Rochester City School District Superintendent Dr. Lesli Myers-Small is negotiating a deal with the city school board to leave.

In an email to RCSD staff at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday, school board President Cynthia Elliott wrote, "I am writing to inform you that last evening the board of education and superintendent Dr. Lesli Myers-Small began the process of a separation agreement. Sadly, this news was prematurely shared in an article in the Democrat and Chronicle this morning. I want to assure you that a seamless transition is one of our top priorities, as we are preparing to open schools in just over a month."

For teachers in the district for the last 10 years, Myers-Small was their seventh superintendent. Adam Urbanski, president of the teacher’s union, told me "This is a matter between the Board of Education and the Superintendent. Teachers’ focus remains on our students and a smooth reopening of schools. That is why we hope that the transition is finalized before September."

In an email to staff, the president of the school board said the board and the superintendent started working on it Tuesday night. News10NBC watched the two-hour school board meeting Tuesday night and there was no apparent indication this was coming.

In the email to staff, Elliott wrote "I ask that you remain focused on the important work of serving our students. I will share more information with you, as we are able."

Myers-Small’s office said they’re not commenting today.

Myers-Small used to be the superintendent in Brockport. Her contract says she was hired at RCSD on March 18, 2020. Two days before that, then Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered schools to close for COVID.

And then Myers-Small made the district 100 percent remote the next year.