Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams Knight announced late Wednesday afternoon that she will be resigning from her position at the end of the school year.
Williams Knight has been with the district for 32 years, and served in an interim role following the resignation of Dr. Kriner Cash in 2022. She was officially appointed by the Buffalo Board of Education to the position in July of 2022.
"I have a wonderful relationship with this board, but because I love what I do, if I'm honest, it would never be the right time for me to retire. I would keep pushing it out year after year. And why now it is because I am confident, more confident than ever before, that this school district, the second largest in New York state, is in a very good place."
Williams Knight says before she leaves, she will be doing a tour of 60 Buffalo schools in 60 days.
"I have committed myself to visiting every single one of our schools to witness up close and personal how our school leaders, how our teachers and teacher aides and assistants are teaching, how our Student Support Teams are providing counseling and support to our children. I want to witness the care that our cafeteria staff take every day as they ensure that our children are afforded nutritious meals, how our school nurses are caring for our children, how our engineers are making sure that our school grounds are sparkly clean and well cared for. But my most favorite part of the tour is to see the magic," stated Williams Knight.
Williams Knight says there's still a ton of work that she wants to continue working on before she officially steps away.
"We have literacy goals for our third graders. I want all of our children to experience growth and literacy. That's extremely important mathematics. I want to see that growth continue. We're looking at regionalization and working with component and suburban school districts to see how we can work together for the benefit of buffalo public schools as well as them. We've got blue ribbon graduation requirements that are coming up. I want our children to have a chance. That's what I want. I want our children to have a chance," she explained.
According to her bio on the district's website, Dr. Williams Knight grew up in Buffalo and is a product of Buffalo Public Schools, where she attended School #90, West Hertel Middle, and Riverside High School.