'My heart has always been here.' NY Regent Ruth Turner to rejoin RCSD
New York Regent Ruth Turner will leave her post and rejoin the Rochester City School District as a deputy superintendent, she said Wednesday, a key early hire for new superintendent Carmine Peluso.
Turner graduated from East High School and worked in RCSD for 13 years, beginning as a social worker and eventually becoming chief of student support services and social-emotional learning. She served in the cabinet alongside Peluso.
She was a key leader in the district's revamped code of conduct and its gradual embrace of restorative practices. She resigned in protest in 2020, believing the superintendent at the time, Lesli Myers-Small, was insufficiently dedicated to restorative justice and anti-racism.
In March 2021 Turner was chosen as a state regent, replacing T. Andrew Brown.
"The work the Board of Regents does is extremely important," Turner said. "But for me, I felt I needed to come back to try to do my part to help address some of the challenges with RCSD.
"It was a difficult choice, but my heart has always been here. With the right team and the right focus, we can turn the tide and bring our district back to the time it was really thriving."
It will be up to the state Legislature in the coming months to choose another Rochester-area representative on the Board of Regents.
"Ruth Turner's commitment and dedication to our children is evident throughout her entire career," Peluso said. "I am excited to welcome her back to the district in a capacity where she will be able to make a significant impact organizationally."
Turner will focus on ensuring there is enough support in buildings for mental health and restorative practices, among other things, she said. She begins in her new role Feb. 6.
"I think she’ll be a strong leader in regard to social-emotional learning in the administration," School Board President Cynthia Elliott said. "She's pretty strong and she'll get the work accomplished that needs to be done."
Elliott was re-elected as board president Tuesday night and Beatriz LeBron as vice president. Both selections were unanimous among the seven board members, and Elliott said she believes there will be better cooperation on the board in 2023 after an acrimonious 2022.
"We went through the forming of the group and the storming of the group, and now it’s time for normalizing the group, getting it together and focusing on the kids," she said. "People made a lot of promises last night in terms of working together."
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NY Regent Ruth Turner to rejoin Rochester City School District
