BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....With public mistrust of the Buffalo Public Schools and the city's school board at an all-time high, coupled with increasing levels of frustrations and concerns, Assemblyman Jon Rivera is asking the state to step in and appoint a monitor to oversee the struggling and controversy-laden distruct.
Rivera's resolution will be addressed when state lawmakers return to Albany in January but already has the tacit backing of Dr. Betty Rosa, New York's Education Commissioner.
"Parents, and the public, has lost confidence in the school board," Rivera said. "We need an independent monitor to help restore things with the district."
The issue may discussed by school board members when they meet later Wednesday afternoon.
Rivera is the first local, elected official to ask Dr. Rosa for a monitor.
The notion of bringing in an independent, state-backed monitor was discussed when Dr. Rosa met with school and local officials on July 29, but Rivera said he had prior discussions with the education department leading up to the July 29 visit by the education commissioner.
"Things have been spiraling," Rivera said. "Something had to happen."
For more than a year, the school board has been facing a litany of issues ranging from a potential $60 million budget deficit to indecision about what schools should close and a new location for the Leonardo DaVinci High School, not to mention sexual and personal harassment litigation centering on former Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga and Central District Board member Lewis (Muki) Hawkins and Mubenga's abrupt July 13 resignation as well as the resigantion of former board member Cindi McEachon - who left over lack of transparency issues related to Mubenga and Hawkins.
"People want a more transparent board," Rivera said.
Rivera wants the monitor to be from outside Buffalo and have no connections to the school board or the district. In other words, a fresh pair of eyes.
"A monitor can help streamline issues and he, or she, removes the personalities from issues facing the school board," Rivera said.
Like other state-backed monitors who are working with school districts across New York, Rivera wants the monitor to have full access to all school board meetings, including executive sessions and full access to all records.
The monitor will have override or veto power over any school board decision.
Additionally, Rivera wants the monitor to host a trio of public hearings - one that focuses on school board leadership; another on academic performances and, the third, on finances.
And, by Nov. 1, 2027, Rivera wants the monitor to craft a short term and long term district plan that centers on academic performances and financial issues.
"We didn't get to the low point of where we are overnight," Rivera said. "It took years. And, now we have to work our way back."
State-backed monitor will oversee at school district operations
State-backed monitor will oversee at school district operations
