Rochester school board wants Lesli Myers-Small out as superintendent, sources say
The Rochester school board informed Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small Tuesday night it wants to negotiate for her departure, three sources said Wednesday morning, ending her tenure halfway through her four-year contract.
Linda Cimusz, who served once before as interim superintendent, will do so again while the board seeks a permanent replacement. The timing of the change has not yet been finalized, but it is expected to happen within the next few weeks.
Myers-Small was hired in the spring of 2020 to replace former superintendent Terry Dade after he left abruptly for a downstate school district. A former counselor at Wilson Magnet High School who rose to become superintendent in Brockport and then a deputy commissioner with the state Education Department, she was seen as a home-grown talent who could provide stability.
More:Background on Myers-Small
But the 2021-22 school year was a rocky one. The schools were beset by violence as they reopened after the pandemic. Myers-Small's school closure plan was rejected by the school board, which considered it insufficiently thought out, and her initial budget proposal was sent back by State Monitor Shelley Jallow.
In January she was accused of sexual harassment by a district employee. An board-sponsored investigation cleared her of the accusation, but the outcome of a filing with the state Division of Human Rights is still not known.
Board members said Myers-Small's performance reviews were negative, leading them to the decision to find another leader.
Her contract does not expire until 2024, meaning the two sides will need to negotiate a departure that likely will involve buying out some or all of her remaining pay. She earns $250,000 a year.
Cimusz, a longtime administrator in the Syracuse City School District, served an unanticipated term as interim superintendent in the spring of 2016. She signed on as chief of staff to interim superintendent Dan Lowengard, and then got elevated after Lowengard had a stroke less than a week into the job.
In 2018, after Barbara Deane-Williams departed, Lowengard and Cimusz returned to Rochester for another interim leadership stint.
Myers-Small and School Board President Cynthia Elliott did not respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: RCSD Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small to be replaced, sources say
