Democratic Party Chair Joe Morelle is pressing School Board members to delay the selection of Rochester's new schools superintendent until next year, after two new members join the board.

That could dramatically change the outcome of the search.

Board members had completed their interviews with the four finalists this week and have met twice since then. And around midweek, a majority seemed to be coalescing around one of the candidates.

But Melisza Campos and Allen Williams, who were elected to the board on November 6, have expressed desire for the board to delay its decision until after they take office. And they have Morelle in their corner.

Morelle confirmed late Friday that he's been contacting board members, pushing for the delay. A man identifying himself as Joe Morelle left a voice mail for one board member last week, saying it would be a "grave mistake" for the board to pick a superintendent without Campos and Williams. City has a recording of the voice mail. 

Contacted by phone late Friday, Morelle said it's a matter of accountability. If outgoing board members make a bad choice, then voters, he says, have no means to hold them accountable for that choice.

"It does seem to me that a decision of this import ought to be delayed, if at all possible, until January 1, to give the two new members the opportunity to cast votes and participate in the process," Morelle says.

Williams declined to say who he wants as superintendent. Campos couldn't be reached late Friday. But a delay would open up the possibility that there would not be a majority on the new board for any of the four finalists. If that were the case, a deadlocked board might try to persuade Interim Superintendent Bill Cala to stay. And Morelle says Cala should be considered.

The board has continued to feel pressure to select Cala. Some business leaders and City Hall officials, for example, are known to be Cala fans. In its "Snap Poll" last week, the Rochester Business Journal asked readers which of the four finalists they think is the best choice for superintendent. Fifty-six percent of those responding voted for Tim Mains. When Cala was included in the poll, he got 72 percent of the vote.