Rochester City School District

Superintendent Candidate Forums to be held at East High School Oct. 29-Nov. 1

ROCHESTER -- The Rochester Board of Education Superintendent Candidate Forums will be held at East High School on October 29, 30, 31 and Nov. 1. The events will begin at 6 p.m. The forums will be broadcast on RCTV Channel 15 and moderated by WXXI New Director Peter Iglinski. Childcare will be available by pre-registration and refreshments will be served at an informal reception following the forums. Viewers will be able to telephone with questions for the candidates by calling 324-3636. Residents may also email questions to Board.Of.Education@rcsdk12.org prior to the forums.

“I believe we have developed an inclusive process that will provide everyone with the opportunity to learn about our finalists,” said Board Vice President Malik Evans.

The forums will be conducted as follows, with one candidate appearing each night.

Monday, October 29: Jean-Claude Brizard
Tuesday, October 30: Tim Mains
Wednesday, October 31: Carlinda Purcell
Thursday, November 1: Ingrid Carney

The forums will begin at 6 p.m. with a presentation by the candidate and the question-and-answer period. Forum attendants will be provided with index cards and pencils to write questions for the candidates. Student volunteers will collect the cards throughout the evening and provide them to the moderator. The informal reception with refreshments will follow and provide participants with the opportunity to speak directly to the candidate. Please telephone the Board office at 262-8175 to reserve childcare for children ages 3-12.

“This format will allow the Board the opportunity to see the candidates interact in a variety of settings and provide us with more insight into these individuals,” Evans said. The Board will re-interview all four finalists following the forums and anticipates making a final selection in November.

Brizard is the Senior Executive for Policy and Sustainability with the New York City school system. In NYC, he has also been a Regional Superintendent in charge of 100 K-12 schools with 100,000 students. During his career in the New York City Public Schools, he was also executive director for secondary schools, a local instructional superintendent, a principal, and a physics teacher.

Mains is Principal of School 50 in the Rochester City School District. He was also the Teacher Center/Staff Development Director in the Greece Central School District; a school counselor in Greece, and a social studies teacher in Greece. He was a Rochester City Council member from 1986-2005.

Purcell was most recently the Superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools in Alabama, a district with 58 schools and 33,000 students. She has also been Associate Superintendent in the Cumberland County Schools in North Carolina; Superintendent of Warren County Schools in North Carolina; Division Director of Instructional Support Services in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina; and has held various positions in other North Carolina, Virginia, and North Chicago public schools.

Carney is the Deputy Superintendent for Clusters and School Leaders in the Boston Public Schools. As Deputy Superintendent, she is in charge of 45 schools with 17,300 students. She has also been an administrator with the Chicago Public Schools; the Anderson Community School Corporation in Anderson, Indiana; and a teacher in Wichita Public Schools in Kansas.

For broadcast, the forums are being produced and presented live courtesy of the Rochester City School District Department of Communications with assistance from district student interns.