A look at the past for finalist for RCSD Superintendent

There is more information Tuesday on the inside story on two of the candidates on the list to run Rochester City Schools. The finalists are: Tim Mains--principal of School Number 50 and former mayoral candidate....and longtime city councilman. The other is Dr. Carlinda Purcell. She is the former superintendent of schools in Montgomery, Alabama.  

Dr. Purcell has her masters from Virginia State University and is a former school superintendent in both Warren County, North Carolina and most recently in Montgomery, Alabama. But, it's in Montgomery where Purcell made headlines nearly every day in August 2006.

According to reports from the Montgomery Advertiser, Purcell was forced to resign less than two years after she took the position. Four key issues divided Purcell from the Board of Education in Montgomery: Missed deadlines--the Board claims Purcell missed several, Micromanagement--Purcell accused the Board of nitpicking her every move, Overspending--the Board claims many of Purcell's plans were too costly, and finally, the Board claimed Purcell did not communicate well with the Board.

The matters finally accumulated to the point where just two months ago, Purcell and the Board of Education got into a nasty legal fight over her resignation. It took a judge to mediate the settlement between the two sides. In the end, Purcell received a base salary of $155,000, plus an extra $68,400, benefits totaling $56,000 and the Board of Education agreed to buy her home, valued at $327,000.

It's for this reason that the head of the Rochester Teacher's Union believes Purcell is the wrong person for the superintendent's job in Rochester. Adam Urbanski says while Purcell is qualified, she is qualified in the wrong way.

The other candidate is Tim Mains, who is no stranger to public life in Rochester. Mains was a Rochester city councilman for 20 years, and was also a guidance counselor with the Greece School District. In 2002, he became principal of City School Number 50. A recent Rochester Teacher's Association survey gave him a score of 73%. That put him in the upper half of principals in the district. In 2005, he ran for mayor on the Working Families party ticket, but finished third.