This afternoon I heard the news that RCSD Superintendent Bolgen Vargas would be resigning in December.
While I doubt he recalls, I first met Dr. Vargas in September, 2010 one early morning before school at Brueggers on Monroe Avenue. At the time, I was student teaching at the School Without Walls Foundation Academy. He was still a Counselor in the Greece School District. Bolgen saw I was grading papers and preparing for class. Asking what I was doing, we chatted briefly. As he left, I remember him thanking me for the work I was doing for city kids.
A few weeks ago, Bolgen kindly wrote a Guest Post here. It is a touching account of teachers from the past who had touched him, without whose help he would never have become a Superintendent. RCSD Superintendent Bolgen Vargas joins our conversation
During my tenure with the D & C Make City Schools Better blog, on February 7th, 2013 the title of my first post (taken from a D & C headline) was City Schools Leader: ‘Last chance’ to improve outcomes The day before in his State of Our Schools address, Dr. Vargas offered a dire, jeremiad-like, warning: “If we fail this time, the consequences for this community will be huge.”
While his last chance rhetoric was perhaps not meant to be taken literally, Bolgen did not fail.
For instance, his legacy will continue as the new East takes hold. Well before East was slated for closing, an overhaul or a takeover, Bolgen was pushing for collaborations between local colleges/universities and the RCSD. When the University of Rochester and the Warner School first entered the scene, Bolgen supported the initiative even though it would mean ceding power from the Superintendent’s Office. I don’t know exactly the role he played in the negotiations, but the agreement happened.
Good luck, Bolgen. And thanks for the work you are doing for city kids.
For more, East/Warner