by Natalie Kucko

April 30, 2025

The Children’s Agenda has released its yearly review focused on the Rochester City School District’s budget.

Organizers with the agency explained their findings Wednesday, including the most pressing issues according to approximately 70 RCSD parents surveyed.

Three primary recommendations were featured on topics such as funding mental health clinics at all city schools, maintaining funding for the RocRestorative Team, and a consistent monitoring of school bussing to avoid any delays in transportation.

Angela Colon-Rentas is an RCSD alumni and now, a mother to a kindergartener in the district. Colon-Rentas shared some of the struggles she faced emotionally during her time as a student, including time at the Monroe County Juvenile Detention Center for missing days of school.

“I want my daughter to be treated as a human and not as a number. That’s a change I see now. If I were to compare and contrast on things I’d love to see happen now, it would be peer advocacy. Having peers with lived experiences that have the systems – in a school – assisting our youth,” she said.

Mental health remains at the forefront, according to the survey. 80 percent of Rochester families have identified challenges with transportation to access mental health services, which is part of the reason why advocates are asking for satellite counseling services in all city schools and not some.

“There’s still a need. There’s still school districts where kids can’t get access, and even if they have clinics, sometimes those aren’t staffed to the level to meet the needs of those buildings. We’ve seen tragedies play out over the last few years when kids don’t have access to mental health supports and because of the high rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm in the community, you need that pressure release. You need someone when you’re in a crisis,” said Eamonn Scanlon, director of community impact for The Children’s Agenda and lead author on the review.

In addition to these recommendations, the review also included alternatives to suspension policies. According to The Children’s Agenda, RCSD currently has one of the highest suspension rates in New York State at 15 percent last school year.

The hope from advocates is that these concerns will be maintained by the changing leadership in the RCSD.

“For advocacy, it’s about the urgency and being in front of the people who lead and make choices when it comes down to mental health. Especially since my daughter is in the RCSD as a kindergartener. I would not want her to go through the same things I went through. I hope to see in the future that these programs are implemented and are growing, that they’re sustainable and actually effective,” said Colon-Rentas.

The Rochester City Council will vote on RCSD’s budget June 17, following a variety of RCSD budget hearings over the next few months.

A link to the full report from The Children’s Agenda can be found here.

Original article here: https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/education/rcsd-parents-raise-recommendations-on-districts-budget-in-new-review/