Buffalo City School District board accepts superintendent's resignation, appoints interim

The Buffalo City School District board accepted the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mbuyinga and voted to appoint Dr. Ebony Prophet Balak as interim superintendent effective 07/14/2026.

The Chair told members the resignation was presented to the board that day and moved to accept it; after a voice vote of "Aye," the board passed the motion. The Chair then moved to appoint Dr. Ebony Prophet Balak as interim superintendent with an effective date of 07/14/2026; that motion also passed on a voice vote. The transcript records the movers/seconders for the motions as "Rodriguez Bowen" (resignation) and "Bowen and Wright" (appointment). No roll-call vote or numerical tally was recorded in the transcript.

Before and after those actions, the Chair gave an extended reminder about the limited, confidential purpose of executive sessions under New York open meetings law and warned that unauthorized disclosures can undermine the board's effectiveness and may carry legal consequences. "I want everyone to understand that the unauthorized disclosure of confidential executive session information is a serious breach of board members' responsibility," the Chair said.

The board also reviewed resumes for candidates to fill a North District vacancy and said public interviews will be scheduled within the next week. The meeting record states no official action was taken during the executive session itself.

Note on transcript inconsistency: the person the board appointed is named in the transcript as "Dr. Ebony Prophet Balak" in the motion language, but a later line refers to "doctor Prophet Bullock." The board's appointment language identifies the appointee and effective date; the transcript contains divergent spellings of the appointee's surname. The article does not resolve that inconsistency beyond reporting both variants as they appear in the record.

The board adjourned following those items.