News Blog

This is a corrected version of this blog: 2-7-14 at 8:26 a.m.

Here we go again.

Even when you try to maintain a sense of hope for the city school district, it’s easily dashed. The latest example comes from a story reported yesterday by the Democrat and Chronicle’s David Andreatta.

This is what we know so far: Andreatta received an envelope containing documents that show Rochester school board President Van White's financial and legal problems. An anonymous note accompanied the documents that read: “He can’t manage himself. How can he manage a school district (?)”

The information was pulled from the Monroe County Clerk’s website, and according to the D&C, the log-in name used to pull the records was Patrick Malgieri, an attorney and spouse of Patricia Malgieri, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s chief of staff.

In an interview earlier today, Patricia Malgieri said she didn’t send the documents to Andreatta. She said she asked her husband if he had anything to do with sending the package, and he said no. And Vargas, who was present, called the whole thing a “distraction.”

But it's much worse than that, and it raises a number of questions. For starters, if neither Patrick nor Patricia Malgieri did this, who did? 

Whoever sent the information to the D&C wanted to inflict personal, political, and professional damage to White, an elected official. But they left a trail that leads back to the district and the Malgieris. Doesn't the couple want to know who that person is?

White’s management of his personal finances is not out of bounds, and some people will draw connections between his personal and professional lives. But it’s a bit naive to think that other prominent business and community leaders in Rochester are completely free of financial and-or legal problems. 

The documents sent to the D&C might be relevant if White was suspected of wrongdoing. But that's not the case. 

The damage intended to White’s credibility has boomeranged, and it’s added more controversy to a district that seems to be incapable of avoiding it.

City students, parents, and teachers deserve so much better.