Rochester board continues budget review; Oracle, transportation, special education and CTE draw questions

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester City School District Board of Education held the second round of budget deliberations on April 15, focusing on area profiles in the budget book including special education, bilingual programs, transportation, information technology, security, food services, CTE and athletics.

Board members pressed staff for clarity on several items in the proposed 2025–26 budget as the district moves to a new Oracle financial codification system. Superintendent Strickland urged commissioners to use the board question log and made finance staff available for follow-up, saying, "My whole mission is to be as transparent as possible. There's nothing to hide," about the budget process.

Why it matters: the board is reviewing a multi‑year financial plan while the district converts to Oracle and awaits final state aid figures. Several reclassifications and one‑time costs in the proposed budget — notably IT maintenance, security coding changes and shifting special‑aid accounting — will affect how expenditures are presented and tracked across departments.

Information technology and Oracle

Commissioners asked about a roughly $5 million increase tied to function code 1680, labeled Central Data Processing. Staff answered that the rise reflects ongoing Oracle implementation and associated maintenance. A budget staff member said the higher maintenance needs "will continue probably for the next couple of years just as we get on our feet." Staff said the district expects costs to remain around the current proposed level after the initial implementation period.

Transportation and bus tracking

Commissioners asked about bus counts, driver shortfalls and parent notification systems. District staff said the routing system is being upgraded via an RFP process; once routing data are consolidated the district can provide bus‑location updates through third‑party apps such as FirstView. Staff also explained that the district operates roughly 30 internal buses and relies on multiple contracted vendors for the remainder of its bus fleet.

Special education and funding shifts

Vice President Malloy asked about a 2025 line coded 1989 showing unclassified expenditure and indirect costs in special education; staff explained those interfund transfers were moved out of the Special Aid department into the district‑wide department. Staff said about $4 million of a district‑wide increase represents that reclassification; another roughly $6 million reflects preschool subsidy costs. For preschool services the district can receive up to 80% reimbursement from county/state sources, staff said.

CTE, athletics and coaching

Commissioners raised several questions about career and technical education (CTE) funding, athletics at Padilla and Franklin high schools, and coaching hires. Dr. Ramos described central office CTE costs and said a line item reflects leasing of eight classrooms used for vocational programming and partnerships, calling it "the leasing of eight classrooms throughout the school year that we use as part of the vocational educational opportunities for employment for our students." Commissioners discussed tiered health career pathways tied to dual‑enrollment with Monroe Community College; Dr. Ramos described plans that begin with home health aide and CNA tiers and can lead to dual credits with MCC.

On athletics, commissioners asked whether coaching positions must be filled from within the district. Staff said the district typically looks internally first but may use outside coaches; a stipend system applies so coaching pay is not dependent on whether a coach is internal or external.

Security and coding changes

An apparent large increase tied to function code 1622, "Security of Plant," prompted questions. Staff explained the state comptroller addedthat 1622 classification a few years ago and the district properly recoded security officers from a prior code (2020 supervision of schools) to 1622; the apparent increase reflects that coding change rather than a sudden new hiring surge.

Nutrition and federally regulated meal standards

Commissioners asked about food services and per‑school allocations. Staff noted that school meal standards are tightly regulated and vendors must meet federal nutritional requirements, limiting some local flexibility to alter menu items without changing nutritional profiles. The district has a nutritionist overseeing compliance with federal guidelines.

Program evaluations and vendor oversight

Commissioners pressed for evaluation results for outside vendors and partnerships that inform budget decisions. Staff said contract‑level, end‑of‑year evaluations tied to vendor goals are housed with individual departments and available on request; comprehensive program evaluations conducted by the district's research and development team are longer term and remain in progress. Staff said two large vendor evaluations were under way and expected to conclude within six to eight weeks. As one staff member summarized: if commissioners name specific vendors in the board log, staff can provide the contracted end‑of‑year evaluations; the larger, district‑led program evaluations take more time.

Youth justice education

Asked how the district provides services in juvenile justice settings, staff said the educators working in jails and similar settings are district employees and, where necessary, the district bills other jurisdictions for those services rather than outsourcing instruction to third parties.

Procedural notes and next steps

Superintendent Strickland told commissioners that round‑three budget questions were due by the following day and answers would be returned by the 20th. With no further substantive votes taken on budget items, the meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn from Commissioner Santiago, seconded by Commissioner Griffin; the motion passed and the session was closed.

The board is continuing deliberations; staff and monitors emphasized that final state aid figures remain pending and that the current work reflects a multiyear process tied to the Oracle codification change and evolving federal and state funding guidance.