Concerning the RCSD District Comprehensive Improvement Plan (DCIP), which was incomplete and at times incomprehensible, the New York State Department of Education sent this Email:

“In response to your questions regarding the 2012-13 DCIP posted for the Rochester CSD, the NYS Education Department provided feedback and technical assistance to districts regarding the submissions of the DCIPs for 2012-13. The DCIP format has changed for 2013-14 submissions, and Rochester requested and received an extension for submission. The 2013-14 submission is currently due to the Department on October 1, 2013.”

This means that the district should have completed and submitted the 2013-14 DCIP to the Department of Education by today.

If the plan was completed and sent in by today, it should certainly have been posted on the district website as of 12:01 a.m. today.

With district personnel making over $100,000 in salary, being responsible for the completion of this task, it should be expected that the information sent be complete and comprehensive and available to the public at the same time it was made available to the Department of Education.

Unfortunately, the lack of accountability, transparency, and efficiency of the Rochester City School District office of School Innovation, whose responsibility it was to compile and submit the DCIP becomes apparent when accessing the district website only to find the previous 2012-13 DCIP, shown as the DCEP, is still posted.

While this may seem inconsequential, the District Comprehensive Improvement Plan is the driving force behind the policies, plans, and procedures of the School Board and Superintendent.

If the Comprehensive Improvement Plan of the district is incomplete and nonsensical, how then can the decisions made by district leaders make complete sense?

As well, if the district’s major plan is flawed, how can those who filed that plan with NYSED assess the validity of the individual schools plans submitted?

These are issues that should be raised by the School Board and Superintendent when holding people accountable for the completion of their assigned tasks.

If we do not expect excellence from those employed by the district, how can we expect excellence from those served by the district?

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