Buffalo Public Schools heard concerns from students and families Thursday as district leaders presented a revised proposal to close schools and merge programs, including plans to combine Leonardo da Vinci High School and Research Laboratory High School at East Community High School.
The in-person meeting at Renovation Church gave families and students an opportunity to ask questions about how the proposed changes could affect school identity, staff, programs and the relationships students have built within their school communities.
Ann Marie Jurado, whose son is a freshman at Research Laboratory High School, said she is concerned about how students from the two schools would be brought together.
Her concerns include potential divisions between students based on the school's different admissions criteria. Leonardo da Vinci is a criteria-based school, while Research Laboratory High School is not.
“My biggest concern is not having that division, not having that finger-pointing of, ‘Well, you are a criteria-based school, you came from a non-criteria-based school, therefore they are not up to par,’” Jurado said.
She also raised questions about whether the merged school would have a new name and whether the two school communities would remain separate.
Students at Leonardo da Vinci High School also expressed concerns about preserving their school’s identity.
Janine Mawazo and Leugundi Jumlae, both juniors at da Vinci, said their concerns are not directed at Research Laboratory students. Instead, they want to preserve the close-knit environment they have experienced at their own school.
“We as da Vinci, we are a small community, so we want to keep our community small so we know everybody, we know how everybody acts,” Mawazo said.
Interim Superintendent Ebony Prophet-Bullock said students should have a voice in the process.
“I am here to make sure that they have as much of a say in this proposal as everyone else,” Prophet-Bullock said.
During the meeting, students questioned why schools were being considered for closure, what the merger could mean for da Vinci’s legacy and what would happen to school principals and other staff.
Prophet-Bullock said the district is looking at ways to combine resources while maintaining each school’s identity.
“We have to recombine and reconfigure and do more over a smaller footprint, and there is a way that we can merge the two schools and they still have their own identity,” she said.
She also cautioned against framing the proposal as a competition between the two school communities.
“It is unfair. It is not nice,” Prophet-Bullock said, referring to the idea of pitting schools against one another. She praised Research Laboratory’s leadership, teachers and students.
Under the revised proposal, Leonardo da Vinci and Research Laboratory would merge at East Community High School rather than Riverside Academy, the location the district initially proposed. Riverside would instead house Buffalo Rising Academy and the Career Collegiate Institute.
The district has said the proposed changes are intended to address declining enrollment, aging buildings and budget pressures. Officials have estimated the broader school closure plan could save about $24 million annually.
The district’s next community meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at PS 156 Frederick Law Olmsted.
The proposals remain under review, and the district has said it must continue evaluating operational details. The school board is expected to vote on the plan Wednesday.
