The Rochester City School District is a public school district that serves approximately 21,000 students in the city of Rochester, New York. It is currently operating with a budget of $1.065 billion, which comes out to approximately $50,700 per student. This is, according to Census Bureau data, $20,827 more than the New York State average of $29,873 per student, and over three times the national average of $15,633 per student.

Organization

The school district is run by a board of education that sets school policy and approves school spending. The board hires a superintendent under contract to carry out its policies.

Board of education

The board of education consists of seven members, elected biennially, who serve staggered four-year terms. The current board members are:

Superintendent and supporting team

Facilities

Schools

Pre-Kindergarten Centers

Elementary schools

Secondary schools

School and alternative programs

Former schools

Gallery

Performance

In 2019, the Rochester City School District was ranked the 3rd worst school district in upstate New York, and in 2017 it was ranked the 8th worst in New York State. In 2007, the New York State Education Department named 14 Rochester elementary schools among the state's "most improved" schools in English language arts and/or math. Newsweek ranked Wilson Magnet High School 49th among the nation's top 100 high schools based on advanced curriculum. The Children's Institute, a non-profit children's advocacy organization, has ranked the district's pre-K program one of the best in the nation.

Configuration redesign

In 2003, a plan to redesign the grade-level configuration was approved by the board of education. It changed the district from one of elementary schools (preK–5), middle schools (6–8) and high schools (9–12) to one of elementary schools (pre-K–6) and secondary schools (7–12). The plan was implemented in stages over four years.

Media coverage

Given the district's continued struggles there has been much local media coverage analyzing the district from varying perspectives, and most recently this has been done through the Democrat and Chronicle ' s Time to Educate Series. The motto of this media initiative is "Something. Must. Change." In 2018 the editorial board of that paper wrote "It is time to declare an emergency".