Schools leadership 

Rochester school board members will meet this week to elect a leadership team. | Van White, currently vice president of the board, says he wants the presidency. But White may face a challenge from board member Cynthia Elliott, if the rumors are to be trusted. | Malik Evans, the current president, is not seeking the post. | The contenders for vice president aren't as clear. | Board members make $23,000 annually, while the board president makes about $30,000. | The new president will lead a group that is generally underappreciated and has few major successes to brag about. | Low graduation rates and low student performance, particularly among African American and Latino boys, continue to grind at the school district. And the new leadership team will also face increasing competition for students with charter schools, as well as a state Education Department growing increasingly impatient for improvement at the district. | If White becomes president, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will have to work with a more assertive leader who may expect to see more of his ideas implemented and is less supportive of Vargas's "We need the community's help" narrative.