State monitor outlines 2025–26 academic and financial plan, opens public comment through July 15

Dr. Jaime Alaseya, the state-appointed monitor for the Rochester City School District, presented the district's draft 2025'026 academic and financial plan at a public hearing the Board of Education held June 26, 2025. The monitor said the draft reduces earlier recommendations but adds targeted new items and that written public comment will be accepted through July 15.

Alaseya said state law (Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2020) empowers the monitor to assist the district and board with academic and fiscal oversight as a nonvoting ex officio member. She told the board the academic plan now includes 44 recommendations overall and five newly proposed academic recommendations for the coming year; the fiscal plan now includes 33 recommendations with three new fiscal recommendations for 2025'026.

The monitor highlighted specific academic recommendations aimed at stabilizing governance and improving instruction: support for the incoming superintendent (Dr. Rosa, beginning July 1), board professional development provided by the New York State School Boards Association to repair interpersonal relationships at the dais, and an audit of bilingual and English-language-learner curricula to ensure materials used by teachers include Spanish components where needed. "We don't want the school to go back to receivership," Alaseya said, describing monitoring of the East Educational Partnership Organization transition as a priority.

On finance, Alaseya said the plan recommends the district hire a permanent chief financial officer and budget director by Oct. 31 and continue close oversight of the recent Oracle position-control implementation. She said the district should plan now for possible federal funding reductions (Title I, II, III) and be prepared to reallocate funds to maintain student services if those revenues decline. The monitor also thanked interim finance staff for recent work while urging a permanent placement for key finance roles.

Alaseya said the district must submit quarterly evidence and progress reports to the State Education Department; she and a fiscal consultant will review those reports. She encouraged trustees and the public to submit written feedback on the draft plan by July 15 and said she would incorporate that feedback into the final document the board will consider at the July business meeting.

The presentation referenced the monitor's statutory authority under Chapter 56 (Laws of 2020) and the State Education Department's receivership oversight process. Alaseya and staff thanked district leaders they had visited during the review, including references to Dr. Vicky Ramos and fiscal consultant Dr. Porter, for cooperation during school visits.

The board did not take a vote on the draft at the hearing; the monitor set a July 15 deadline for public comment and said she will return with a final plan for the board's July business meeting.