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Community warns cuts to counselors, social workers and home‑hospital instruction would harm vulnerable students
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Summary
Teachers, parents and health advocates told the board proposed reductions to social‑emotional staff, restorative teams and the home‑hospital instruction program would damage services for medically fragile and high‑need students and could carry legal and safety risks. Several speakers described the home‑hospital program as a legal entitlement for some IEPs.
Dozens of parents, home‑hospital teachers and mental‑health professionals warned the Rochester Board of Education that proposed cuts to social workers, counselors, restorative staff and home‑hospital instruction would leave medically fragile and high‑need students without legally required or effective services.
Lisa Silverstein, chair of the home‑hospital program, said district figures presented at a previous meeting understated the program’s scope and that recent practice—directing some students to online suspension classrooms—does not meet New York state standards for substantially equivalent instruction. “An IEP is not a suggestion. It is a legally binding document,” Silverstein said, warning that the district’s current approach creates “significant risk for the district, including potential state audits and formal legal challenges.”
Parents and teachers gave specific examples. Melissa Melendez (S19) described a daughter who required intensive, one‑on‑one instruction after repeated hospitalizations; Sam Zebelman (S49) described a student on dialysis whose condition made classroom attendance impossible. Home‑hospital teachers and speech‑language pathologists said many of their students cannot engage with remote platforms because of medical needs or disabilities.
Speakers cited numbers described during testimony: a claim that the draft proposal would remove roughly 30 social workers, 16 counselors and four restorative coaches (as stated by a community organizer) and testimony that a 95% budget cut to home‑hospital instruction had been reported to staff. The superintendent told the board the budget is preliminary and that the district has secured $4,900,000 in grant funding and reinstated 15.5 social workers and 4.4 counselors to date.
Public‑health professionals and school counselors pressed for investment in prevention and restorative practices, arguing those approaches reduce crisis costs. Several speakers urged the board to engage directly with program staff to craft any transition plan and to ensure that changes preserve compliance with IEPs and state education requirements. The board recessed and later convened a special meeting and executive session; the hearing did not produce a final vote on program eliminations during public comment.
