Reaction to Mubenga resignation: 'We're in crisis mode right now'

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another superintendent is out in Buffalo.

Dr. Pascal Mubenga's unexpected resignation Monday night adds another chapter to a district that has struggled with leadership turnover, with eight superintendents serving in the past 20 years.

Parent advocate Sam Radford told WBEN he was "shocked" by the news, while Marc Bruno, a teacher at Buffalo's Riverside High School, believes the district is in "crisis mode."

Both say the latest leadership change comes at a critical time for Buffalo Public Schools, where superintendent turnover has become all too familiar.

"Just when you think things couldn't get worse in Buffalo Schools, obviously they have," said Bruno. "We need stability in this district and it's a train wreck right now. The kids are the ones who suffer at the end of the day." He added, "I'm extremely concerned."

Mubenga's resignation comes on the heels of School Board member Cindi McEachon's resignation and amid an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against another school board member. The district is currently operating with a projected budget deficit of over $60 million dollars.

Radford said he talked to Mubenga last week.

"I had no idea this was coming. It's really shocking, and unfortunate for Buffalo school children."

Radford is co-chair of WNY Education Equity Task Force. He added that the timing could not be worse.

"Fourteen Buffalo schools were just added to the state's accountability list of schools needing improvement. Another three schools were just added to receivership and Mubenga had just finished a strategic plan to get us turned around and that was his area of expertise, and to lose that, sets us back in a lot of ways."