If
you'd come in late to East High School's athletic awards ceremony last Tuesday,
you would've been greeted by a balding, middle-aged white guy with a close-cut
beard, his East High sweatshirt matching the purple plastic tablecloth. He
would have handed you a program and told you to sit anywhere, then he'd go hand
out plaques to triathletes. You wouldn't know it if you were a first-timer at
East, but that's Ed Cavalier. "I just had my retirement dinner last night, so I
guess it's official," he says. Cavalier's leaving East after 15 years as
principal, despite parents' pleas for him to reconsider.

If it's true what some parents
say --- that principal Ed Cavalier walks on water --- then surely there's a lot
of sloshing over the edges these days, what with all the goodbye tears filling
the pool.

It's a rowdy night at East,
one of many events during the annual Spirit Week, when students are honored for
their achievements. The room is writhing with the energy of teenage athletes,
choked-up emotion, and the bursting pride of parents. Lots of cheering, lots of
clapping and ovations; in-jokes about how an assistant coach earned all his
gray hairs, nicknames for memorable teammates: "the little guy with attitude."

On water or solid ground,
Cavalier doesn't walk so much as he floats, like the purple and gold helium
balloons swaying throughout the cafeteria. He moves between presenter and
awardee, giving a plaque, a handshake, a hug, then sitting on a folding chair in
the corner, out of sight while others take the mic. This is the kids' night and
he wants to be part of it, like he has at every game, every student event.

"It's been a 16- to
17-hour-a-day labor of love for the past 15 years," he says, "and I'm feeling
the aging process. I could've retired last year. One morning last December I
woke up and said, 'I think I want to retire.' It wasn't a cerebral decision; I
just don't have the energy any more to run the programs as they should be run.
I know I'm going to miss my job terribly."

At the end of
this month,
one quarter of the city school district's principals will leave their offices
for the last time. Cavalier has put a total of 34 years into the district; most
of his fellow retirees have racked up decades of service as well, moving from
classroom teacher to vice principal to principal. In exchange for the long
years of service, they will receive retirement packages designed to clear out
higher-paid employees and save the district money on lower-paid replacements.
But the loss is more than financial. It's human.

It isn't unusual to hear words
like "concern" and "crisis" when people talk about the city schools, but these
days it's not just because of the budget deficit or the teacher layoffs. It's
because 14 seasoned principals are stepping down this month. That's over 400
years of collective experience walking out the door, and nearly 9,500 students
who will have to adjust to new principals.

The 14 gave notice earlier
this year. Now that the Rochester Board of Education recently adopted the state
retirement incentive package, up to 15 more district administrators could
decide to retire this summer, says Richard Stear, president of the Association
of Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester, the administrators' union. One
or two principals might be among them.

The district is not only
losing expert principals, but among those leaving are half the directors of
subject departments in the district's central office.

"Experience is hard to
calculate," Stear says. "Knowledge of the job is not transferred or written
down. The first couple of years when the old principals are gone are the
hardest; new people face a steep learning curve." The loss doesn't become
apparent until a specific situation arises, he says --- mundane things like
coordinating special events, or processes mastered through experience, like
school-based planning or reaching consensus at a meeting.

"Many principals have had long
experience and are very supportive of their teachers and attentive to the
instructional program of their schools," says Adam Urbanski, president of the
Rochester Teachers Association. "They see themselves as a buffer between the
outside bureaucratic pressures and the teaching-learning dynamic of the school.
Some have honed the art of creative insubordination. They comply differently.
This only comes from experience and from the heart."

This summer, new principals
must be found for 10 elementary schools, Charlotte Middle School, and three
high schools --- East, Franklin, and Wilson. According to city school district
protocol, the selection process is a collaboration between the district's
central office and the school that is losing its principal.

This is how it's supposed to
work: The district's human resources department organizes a screening committee
of district staff, school staff, and a parent representative. The committee
selects a pool of candidates, which it offers to a school team of teachers and
parents. The school can choose to interview the candidates or decline. If the
team interviews, it recommends up to three finalists to the superintendent, who
makes the final decision. If the team declines the opportunity, the
superintendent appoints a new principal.

Schools are included in the
decision-making process through a policy adopted by the school board; the
policy follows the New York State Department of Education's regulations
mandating shared decision-making in school districts.

But according to the
district's "Principal Selection Process Handbook," the district doesn't even
have to offer the school team a chance to interview; the superintendent can
bypass the school altogether and appoint a principal on his own.

Because the school board
dismissed Superintendent Janey earlier this year, Urbanski says the district
may end up going about the replacement process in the wrong way. The board is
split as to whether Janey or an interim superintendent should oversee the
replacements, so school-based teams may end up left out of the interview process
if time runs out, Urbanski says --- violating the board's own inclusion policy.

Replacement of principals is
going according to the contract between the district and the Association of
Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester, says Richard Stear. "The majority
of the school board has empowered Superintendent Janey to carry on the
district's process," he says. The district's central office has kept the
Association in the loop throughout the process, Stear says.

Barbara Jarzyniecki, communications director for the school district, insists
the selection process is inclusive and on track. "Our human resources
department completed its selection of candidates [in late May]," she says, and
is now setting up interview sessions with school-based teams. The teams should
be submitting names of the finalists to Janey by mid-June, after which he will
schedule concluding interviews with the candidates.

For now, Janey
is still active, and has the last word in the principal-selection process.
But some board members fear he won't devote as much attention as necessary to
the replacement process.

"I have grave concerns about
an outgoing superintendent selecting one- quarter of our principals," says
Joanne Giuffrida, president of the school board. She and two fellow board
members, Jim Bowers and Darryl Porter, are in favor of appointing an interim
superintendent and asking Janey to pack up his desk now.

It's a matter of
accountability, she says; no matter what decisions Janey makes at the end of
his term --- including appointments for new principals --- he will no longer be
accountable to the board come September 1. Janey's replacement, on the other
hand, will have no input on the new principals, but will be responsible for
their performance and accountable to the board.

The other side of the school
board divide, led by board member Rob Brown, believes Janey will make sound
choices since he's familiar with the candidates and their performance in the
district.

But where will these
candidates come from? Many are already in the system --- current principals and
vice-principals. "The necessary qualities for a principal are quite extensive,"
Brown says, leadership being the most important. Aside from instructional
commitment, a principal must be a strong manager, something learned only
through experience. And there's potentially another, relatively new source for
vice-principals and other administrators.

Two years ago,
in anticipation of mass retirement of principals, the school district
established a masters program with St. John Fisher College to groom future city
school administrators. These graduates are meant to fill the positions vacated
by vice-principals who move up to principalships. The curriculum focuses on
issues specific to the district; most of the program's students are district
teachers. There is a pool of 50 or so administrators who have graduated over
the last two years.

It'll be a
little scary when the Old Wise One leaves the building for the last time.
Those who are left behind may have to adjust for a year or two until things
feel right again. "Back in the early '70s when a bunch of us principals were
new teachers --- Ed Cavalier, [Wilson Magnet's] Suzanne Johnston --- the
old-timers must have wondered about us," says Bob Pedzich, retiring headmaster
of Franklin High School. "But there's a lot of good talent in the district.
This is a chance for new ideas to come forth, and to explore ideas and options
that we never thought of."

When asked why they're
retiring this year, many principals say they're tired, that it's time to go.
Some took over schools in trouble or schools thought to be in trouble, and they
worked to turn around reputations, achievement levels, and test scores. When
asked about their accomplishments, most of the principals brush off any personal
praise and talk about The Team --- administrators, teachers, parents,
community.

Their to-do lists seem to
share two priorities: "First, I wanted to provide a safe, nurturing
environment," says Musette Castle, retiring principal of Charlotte Middle
School. "We wanted to remove all of the kids' excuses," says Ed Cavalier. East
High and many other city schools have established partnerships with community
organizations. Some have school-based health centers that serve the
neighborhood as well as the students, and in-house student-support centers with
community agency services.

East, Franklin, and Wilson
high schools have expanded their curricula outside the academic track to meet a
range of student interests and needs. The academic programs worked for the kids
who weren't struggling, Cavalier says, but East needed a way to motivate the
kids who were. The school established "co-curricular" courses, including the
only high-school firefighter-training program in the US, and programs in
culinary arts, finance, and information technology, and a teaching-learning
magnet curriculum that guarantees its graduates teaching positions in the city
school district once they become state-certified.

Cavalier also established
strong ties with parents. "He always values our opinions," says Donna
Saranacki, whose two daughters graduated from East. "He tells us, 'Parents hold
the real power in a school.'" Parents involved in East's Parent Teacher Student
Association say they look forward to hearing Cavalier's reports at their
monthly meetings. And not just because he paints a rosy picture. "It's the best
part of the meeting," says Joyce Nakada. "He starts with all the positive
things that are happening, and then he talks about his struggles and obstacles
and how he will overcome them."

Saranacki still comes back to
East to help with special events. "I was always able to contact Ed any time
when my kids were students," she says. "There were times when they were lost or
fumbling, and he talked to me right away. One of my daughters suffered from
depression during her junior year and I didn't even know it. The counselors
picked up on it and Ed called a special school where she went for a year. He
knew who to call, and he did it right away."

Involved parents were
instrumental in helping Wilson Magnet find its groove. "When I arrived, the
school had a reputation for poor performance and discipline," says Suzanne
Johnston, who's retiring from Wilson, where she's been principal since 1985.
"The community was the prime mover for turning the school around. People said,
'Fix it or close it' and they gave us a clear indication of what they wanted
for their youngsters." In response to parents' input, Johnston and her staff
worked to establish a magnet-school program that was competitive in terms of
university placement. They developed a full Advanced Placement curriculum, and
last year, Wilson was accepted into the rigorous International Baccalaureate
Program, one of only four New York public schools to gain accreditation. Next
year, the first class of program participants will graduate.

Patricia Heffernan, retiring
principal of School #23, says she inherited a school with a 75-percent poverty
rate six years ago. "But all kids can learn. We have a broad range of kids:
two-thirds perform at or above grade level and one-third perform below ---
pretty good, considering our poverty rate," she says. "You can't put all your
resources into either group, so we've developed stand-alone enrichment
activities in all subjects. We can give extra work, as well as remediation."

There's been a bigger push to
recognize kids for their achievements. Cavalier initiated Spirit Week at East.
And there are more and more recognition ceremonies at Charlotte Middle School
throughout the year, with parents encouraged to attend, Castle says. Franklin's
Pedzich has his teachers calling or visiting parents throughout the week, "to
talk with them about the good things as well as the problems." Parents tend to
not get involved in schools, Pedzich says, because they're usually contacted
only when there's a problem.

Pedzich and his staff added a
half-hour to the daily schedule to shore up shaky academics. To get extra help,
kids can stay even longer on certain days or attend Saturday-morning school.
Franklin also schedules double periods in English and math for students who are
struggling with the basics.

"Our school is not in a
vacuum," says Ralph Spezio, retiring principal of School #17. "We see it as the
center of an urban village. It's the beacon of the community, a true community
school." Through a series of partnerships with community organizations, the
school has established programs for music and student-teacher training. An
on-campus health center serves 2,500 neighborhood residents throughout the
year, and is completely unique in New York State.

Retiring principal Bill Lewis
has found resources for his school, #57, in an unlikely and somewhat
controversial place. Over the last 13 years, he's cultivated a relationship
between the school and neighborhood churches, inviting congregants to come into
classrooms and read with the kids. He makes regular visits to neighbors' front
porches. "I think it's important to connect the three greatest institutions of
this country," he says, "family, church, and school."

So how to measure success? The
retiring principals say they've seen test scores go up, suspensions go down,
more kids reading more books, and less grumbling among staff. "When I arrived,
the building was covered with graffiti and kids were running through the
halls," says Spezio. "Substitute teachers refused to come or would slam their
room keys down on the office counter midday and leave." Three years ago, the
school district implemented a voluntary teacher-transfer policy. "This year, no
one at our school wanted out," he says, "and 30 teachers wanted in."

There's a
mural that fills an entire wall of the East High commons room. Students
painted it last year to show different aspects of school life. In the
foreground, a female African-American teacher writes "Welcome to East High
School" on a blackboard. Further up, two students --- an African-American boy
and a white girl --- stand side-by-side in caps and gowns, diplomas in their
hands. Off to the right of the girl is a small figure, a balding middle-aged
white guy with a close-cut beard. He wears a dark suit and a red-and-white
striped tie and stands relaxed. He is smaller than the two students, but his
right hand is on the girl's shoulder, like a guardian angel, like a parent,
like a principal.

In
the money

Aside
from a chance to catch up on sleep, what do principals get if they retire this
year?

All school district employees
receive a New York State pension when they retire, but this year, a couple of
early retirement incentives sweeten the deal. Retiring principals can choose
between the district's Voluntary Early Separation Agreement (VESA) and the
state retirement incentive plan.

The state pension plan gives
employees a yearly payout based on years of service and highest average salary.
The state retirement incentive, just adopted by the school board, adds more
money to the pension plan depending on how long an employee has served.

VESA was created last year to
offset the sudden teacher shortages created every June, the traditional time
teachers gave notice of their retirement. In the city school district, a mad
dash would ensue over the summer to replace hundreds of teachers by fall. The
plan pays out $50,000 over five years. To be eligible, an employee has to be at
least 50 years old, earning at least a $50,000 base salary, and with the city
school district for at least five consecutive years.

District employees who meet
the eligibility requirements can choose only one retirement incentive, but
those who were already signed up for VESA when the state incentive came through
can switch to the state plan if they prefer.

VESA moves higher-paid
employees out of the district and makes room for lower-paid new employees. The
average salary of a veteran teacher is $70,000; an entry-level teacher will
earn $33,000 to $35,000 --- a savings of at least $35,000 per employee. The
district anticipates payroll savings of as much as $4 million a year over the
next four years, according to Louis Kash, the district's former chief financial
officer who helped engineer the package. After that, the savings should
increase yearly, he says.

The state retirement incentive
will save the school district somewhere between $6 million and $20 million,
depending on how many employees choose to retire this year. The state incentive
will cost the district significantly more money over time than will VESA, Kash
says. But by offering the option, the district hopes more employees will choose
to leave this year, lowering the anticipated number of teacher layoffs.