The Buffalo Public Schools are facing another crisis, and the New York State Department of Education has been asked to step in to help resolve it.
The former Buffalo schools superintendent has been accused of sexual harassment by a member of the school administration. The same member of the administration, a woman who serves as the district’s chief equity and governance officer, has also accused a school board member of “harassing, threatening and retaliatory conduct.”
Both the school board and the school district are named as plaintiffs in her lawsuit.
Things have become so messy that Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, as well as members of the region’s legislative delegation, have gotten involved.
This week, Assembly Members Jon Rivera and Pat Burke, chair of the Assembly Committee on Cities, reached out to State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa asking her to appoint a special advisor.
“I think there’s a broken governance model and that’s why I’m asking for the (State Education) Commissioner to come in,” Burke told Capital Tonight. “This isn’t really an isolated incident with this school board or this superintendent. Buffalo Public Schools have been in chaos; there’s been a revolving door of superintendents for a very long time.”
In an emailed statement sent to Spectrum News 1, state Department of Education (SED) spokesman JP O’Hare wrote, “Commissioner Rosa spoke with Assemblymember [Jon] Rivera about concerns raised by the local delegation and legislative options. The Department is also in contact with district leadership.”
Burke told Capital Tonight he hadn’t yet heard from SED, but plans to pursue the issue.
“This is just a long-standing, consistent problem with the Buffalo Public Schools and we have to do something about it,” he said.
