On September 16, the Democrat & Chronicle reported that a complaint of sexual harassment was filed against Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small. D&C published three Democrat and Chronicle sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the incident allegedly took place at a district event in early August. It allegedly involved the superintendent inappropriately touching and commenting upon a district employee’s body. School board president Van White confirmed the news after the board met privately with the district's general counsel Thursday night. "It has come to our attention there are some allegations made against the superintendent (Myers-Small) and we’ve retained outside counsel to investigate those allegations," White said. Several days later, a trusted source connected to inside information informed our publication of what happened during a Retreat at East High School. Our source claimed, that Myers-Small touched the breast of an unidentified married White woman and complimented her legs. We later discovered the woman on the receiving end of the alleged inappropriate behavior is CFO Carleen Pierce. After our publication disclosed the gender of the alleged complainant, rumors began to swirl about Myers-Small rumored relationships with female staff and possibly students during her time at Wilson Magnet High School. However, those allegations could not be confirmed.
Our suspicions of a history of Myers-Small misbehaving raise concern. We discovered the contract between Myers-Small and Brockport Central Schools was terminated before the expiration date. Which raises the question, Why did Brockport Central Schools end its contract with Myers-Small? According to a contract published by WHEC and reportedly signed by Myers-Small, the duration of employment was for a period "commencing July 1, 2015, and terminating on June 30, 2020, unless sooner terminated, modified, or extended as hereinafter provided." Reports confirm Myers-Small departure from Brockport was in January of 2019 after being appointed Assistant Commissioner of School Reform and Innovation with the New York State Education Department. Did Myers-Small leave by choice or by force?
Since the report, the board has remained silent on the sexual harassment complaint. Myers-Small has remained active within the Rochester city schools, posing with students with little interruption as the community awaits a determination from the investigation.