BY Adriana Loh

May 1, 2025

The Children’s Agenda has released its annual report on its key priorities in the budget proposed by the Rochester City School District for the next school year.

The Board of Education of the Rochester City School District will vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 6. However, advocates want to ensure its budget addresses the most urgent needs facing students and their families.

Key priorities for the 2025-26 budget focus on mental health and suicide, as they have reportedly reached crisis levels, and restorative coaches as an alternative for suspension and transportation, as the nation faces bus driver shortages.

“The danger and the thing that we worry about is, will these things continue to be implemented? Will there be a shift in funding with new priorities, with the new administration coming in? We haven’t seen that yet because this is still a continuation of what the current administration is doing,” Eamonn Scanlon, director of community impact at The Children’s Agenda, said.

“But the danger is that these things don’t follow through. So we want to make sure that these things actually get implemented and that they’re in the final budget book. We’re happy that there’s funding for restorative practices and the restorative team. We’re happy that there is this rollout that’s happening with mental health, but we don’t want those things to atrophy or stop,” Scanlon continued.

The Children’s Agenda has vocalized these programs and the positive impact it has had for the last few years. However, they would like to see these efforts be continued throughout all schools, making it more accessible, affordable and reaching the areas where they need to be.

Original article here: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2025/05/01/advocacy-group-outlines-priorities-in-proposed-rcsd-budget