Several weeks after teachers at School #41 took a vote of no confidence in the principal, Roshon Bradley, he has been transferred to another school.
Bradley is a “Principal on Assignment” at School #45, which already has a principal. The district did not answer questions about the transfer, citing personnel confidentiality.
Teachers had a long list of grievances against Bradley, including disorganization, lack of security, and anti-union remarks.
But the controversy at School #41 has not ended.
Teachers say Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard and Chief of Human Capital Initiatives Michele Hancock held a staff meeting earlier this week and implied the teachers at School #41 are racist for banding against Bradley, who is black.
Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski said teachers who attended the meeting said Brizard and Hancock “berated them and lectured them. Teachers were shocked and hurt and disappointed that the district seemed to suggest that the problem wasn’t with the principal, it was with them.”
Urbanski said Hancock told the teachers their vote of no confidence was perceived as racist and as a bullying tactic.
“They’re far from racist,” Urbanski said. “Race has nothing to do with it.”
Ronald Wright disagrees. He volunteers at the school through a mentoring program and says he’s gotten to know Bradley. “Mr. Bradley is passionate about the community and children.”
Wright said he has witnessed racial tensions at the school. He said a teacher questioned his qualifications to be a mentor and told him that the only reason he was allowed in the school is because he’s black.
“There are racially-motivated issues there,” Wright said. “I’m saddened that the superintendent would even think about moving him out of the building.”
Urbanski said the teachers will have a chance to prove they are not racist, because the new principal is also black. Marion Whitfield was a vice-principal at School #45, and will head School #41 for the rest of the year.
The controversy has created some personal animosity between Urbanski and Brizard. Urbanski said he got a voicemail from a district lawyer telling him to stay away from the staff meeting. Urbanski said he did not attend - not because of the voicemail – but because he was asked to stay away by the school’s union representatives. Teachers told Urbanski that Brizard said he invited Urbanski, but Urbanski didn’t accept his invitation.
“Brizard is anti-teacher. He blames others. He’s a liar,” Urbanski said.
Urbanski is personally representing three School #41 teachers who were summoned to a meeting with district officials this afternoon. Urbanski said the teachers are under investigation for an unknown reason. Two of the teachers are the school’s union reps and the other was vocal about the school’s problems. Urbanski said the investigation is retaliation for the no confidence vote.
