THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Interim Commissioner of Education E-mail: commissioner@nysed.gov

President of the University of the State of New York Twitter:@NYSEDNews
89 Washington Avenue, Room 111 Tel: (518) 474-5844
Albany, New York 12234 Fax: (518) 473-4909

September 27, 2019

Mr. Van Henri White, President

Board of Education
Rochester City School District
131 West Broad Street
Rochester, NY 14614

Dear Mr. White:

This is in response to your September 19, 2019 letter notifying me that the
Rochester City School District’s (RCSD or “District”) 2018-19 internal year-end audit has
uncovered overspending in multiple departments. I am concerned with the implications of
this matter, especially the impact it may have on the educational opportunities for students
in the District.

I am pleased to learn the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC) will
conduct an audit to examine the finances of RCSD. OSC’s Division of Local Government
and School Accountability has extensive experience in conducting financial audits of
schools. The full cooperation of your staff is expected in this critical analysis. However, we
cannot await the Comptroller’s findings and recommendations to correct the situation.

I urge you to take immediate actions to ensure proper cash management and
monitoring controls are in place as identified in the Rochester City School District
Distinguished Educator’s report’s 84 recommendations.

Moreover, the information contained in your September 19th letter to me regarding

the cause and scope of overspending in the District was limited. I request that you provide
me with an updated letter with a full assessment of the scope of the District’s financial
issues with a detailed analysis of the immediate corrections you are taking to ensure the
issues are being addressed. Further, I expect the next update on the DE Report to include
all actions the district takes to address this situation.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth R. Berlin
Interim Commissioner

c: New York State Board of Regents

Rochester City School District Board of Education
Superintendent Terry Dade